THE  WHALE  AND  HIS  CAPTORS; 


OR, 


THE  WHALEMAN'S  ADVENTURES, 


THE  WHALE'S  BIOGRAPHY, 


AS     GATHERED     ON     THE     HOMEWARD     CRUISE 
OF    THE    "COMMODORE    PREBLE." 


BY  REV.  HENRY  T.  CHEEVER. 


Oh,  the  rare  old  Whale,  mid  storm  and  gale, 

In  his  ocean  home  will  be 
A  Giant  in  might,  where  might  is  right, 

And  King  of  the  boundless  Sea. 


NEW    YORK: 
HARPER  &   BROTHERS,   PUBLISHERS, 

82    CLIFF    STREET. 

1  R  5  0. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  forty-nine,  by 

HARPER  &  BROTHERS, 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  Southern  District 
of  New  York. 


PREFACE. 


THIS  book  is  simply  what  its  title  indicates, 
the  mind  of  the  author  pretending  to  be  only 
the  camera  obscura  through  which  the  rays 
from  Nature  and  Nature's  living  scenes  have 
passed  uncolored  to  the  canvass.  It  may  be 
that  some  who  were  with  the  writer,  and  oth- 
ers too,  experienced  and  old  in  whaling  life, 
may  like  to  glance  through  this  gallery  of  Da- 
guerreotypes, and  by  their  help  recall  to  mind 
scenes  of  which,  if  they  can  not  say,  like  many 
in  this  vocation,  Quaeque  ipse  miserrima  vidi, 
yet  with  equal  truth,  Quorum  pars  magna  fui. 

To  them,  the  author  is  sure  it  will  be  pleas- 
urable to  review  life-passages  that  were  fraught 
with  no  ordinary  interest  in  passing,  and  to  com- 
pare the  glimpses  and  sun-paintings  found  here 
with  their  more  subtle  images  in  the  brain, 
which  memory  loves  to  be  retracing  in  the  down- 
hill of  life. 

M84712 


vi  PREFACE. 

And  if  it  be  true,  what  the  philosophic  Latin 
poet  Lucretius  touches  so  beautifully, 

Suave  mari  magno,  turbantibus  oequora  ventis, 
E  terra,  magnum  alterius  spectare  laborem — 

It  is  a  view  of  delight  to  stand  or  walk  upon  the 
shore  side,  and  to  see  a  ship  tossed  upon  the  sea ; 
or  to  be  in  a  fortified  tower,  and  to  see  two  bat- 
tles join  upon  a  plain ;  or  it  is  sweet,  from  a 
post  of  safety,  to  review  the  labors  of  other  men 
beyond  the  seas — if  there  be  truth  in  this,  the 
writer  may  hope  his  book  will  not  be  barren  of 
interest  to  many,  who,  having  never  experi- 
enced the  reality  of  the  life  which  is  here  de- 
lineated, may  now  behold  it  safely  from  afar  off. 
Hoping  also  that  there  are  moral  hints  and 
lessons  herewith  interwoven,  that  will  catch 
the  eye  and  touch  the  heart  of  the  casual  read- 
er, like  sober  threads  of  green  in  tapestry  of 
gold,  this  book  is  honestly  commended  to  the 
purchase  and  perusal  of  all  classes,  by  the 

AUTHOR. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

INTRODUCTION. 

Origin  and  Localities  of  the  Whale  Fishery — Biscayan  and 
Dutch  Whalemen  —  New  England  Bay  Whaling  —  First 
Sperm  Whale  in  the  Deep  Sea — Statistics  of  History, 
Growth,  and  Value  of  the  Whale  Fishery — Sources  of  In- 
formation— Whaling  Literature  and  Whaling  Life  Page  21 

CHAPTER  II. 

A  SOUTH  SEA  CORAL  ISLAND. 

Tropic  Island  of  Rimatara — Letter  from  the  Natives — Land- 
ing through  the  Surf — Characteristics  of  the  People — King 
Temaeva — Walk  into  the  Interior — Island  Metropolis — 
Foot-prints  of  Christianity — Native  Hospitality — Regretful 
Good-by — Contrast  between  a  People  with  the  Book  and 
without — A  Cut-off  and  a  Recovery — A  Shipwreck  and  a 
Rescue  —  Reasoning  of  a  South  Sea  Islander — Tahitian 
Th  eology 32 

CHAPTER  III. 

RAISING  AND   CUTTING-IN   WHALES. 

Whalemen's  Electrifier — Pursuit  and  Capture  of  the  first  New 
Zealand  Whale — A  Post-mortem  Survey  of  the  Carcass — 
Process  of  Securing  and  Cutting-in  the  Blubber — Lure  of 
Birds  and  Sharks — Firing  up  at  the  Try-works— Poetry  and 
Prose  of  the  Leviathan  . .  52 


viii  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

NEW    ZEALAND   CRUISING  GROUND. 

Physiology  of  the  Right  Whale— Points  of  Difference  in  the 
Sperm — Mammoth  Dimensions  —  Clinical  Notes  —  Provi- 
dential Peculiarities  of  Structure — Right-whale  Feed — 
Polar  Pasture-ground  and  Greenland  Medusse — Disastrous 
Losses  by  Sinking — How  to  be  obviated — Different  Expe- 
dients   Page  66 

CHAPTER  V. 
THE  WHALE'S  PHYSIOLOGY  AND  NATURAL  HISTORY. 

Minute  Description  from  Nature  of  the  Balaeua  Mysticetus — 
Manner  of  the  Whale  in  Feeding — Blubber  Boiling — Oily 
Plight  of  the  Ship  and  Crew  —  Sea  Soap  and  Sand  Scrub- 
bing— Raising  more  Whales — Chase,  Fight,  and  Capture — 
Return  to  the  Ship  with  a  Prize— The  Galvanism  for  weary 
Muscles 79 

CHAPTER  VI. 

DIFFERENT  CRUISING  GROUNDS   AND   NORTHWEST  WHALING. 

A  Whaleman's  Autobiography  in  Rhyme — Different  Kinds  of 
Whale  in  the  Nomenclature  of  Whalers — Razor-back  and 
Fin-back  described — Resorts  of  the  Right  Whale — Great 
Harvest  Field  of  the  Northwest — Vast  Havoc  of  Game  there 
— Prowess  and  Sagacity  of  the  Kamtschatka  Whale — Be- 
ginning and  Progress  of  Northwest  Whaling — New  Arctic 
Cruising-ground  —  Probable  Duration  of  this  Whaling  — 
Maury's  Attempt  to  reduce  the  Whale's  Times  and  Seasons 
to  a  System — Fact  and  Speculation— A  Problem  for  Pos- 
terity  95 


CONTENTS.  ix 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  WHALE'S  BIOGRAPHY  AND  INCIDENTS  IN  THE  CAPTURE. 

Amicable  Temper  of  the  Right  Whale — Wisdom  of  the  Crea- 
tor— Whale's  maternal  Affection  and  Boldness  in  Defense 
of  its  Young — A  Sperm  Whale  feeding — A  Sperm  Whale 
dying — A  Sperm  Whale  Sick  and  wanting  Physic — Am- 
bergris— Its  Origin  and  Uses — Deformities  and  Wars  of 
Bull  Whales — Probable  Age  of  the  Dam  and  Size  of  the 
Whale  Calf— The  Whale's  Enemies— Terrific  Combats  with 
Killers,  Thrashers,  Sword  Fish,  and  Sea  Serpent — Deubt- 
ful  Morality  of  the  Whale  Fishery— The  Sabbath  a  Whale- 
man's Right Page  1 1 0 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

ATLANTIC  OCEAN   MAMMOTHS   AND  MONSTERS. 

A  Day  and  Night  off  Cape  Horn — Capture  of  a  Calf  and  Escape 
of  a  Cow — Harpooning  of  a  Sun-fish — Metamorphosis  into 
a  Chowder — Sinking  one  Thousand  Dollars  in  a  Right 
Whale — Making  Twenty-five  Hundred  in  a  Sperm — Lodg- 
ing Harpoons  in  a  Third — Whales  Reading  Lectures  to 
Men 128 

CHAPTER  IX. 

EPISODES   IN  THE   FORTUNES  OF  WHALEMEN. 

Stirring  Adventure  amid  a  Gam  of  Whales — Captain  Over- 
board with  a  tangled  Tow-line — Sensations  while  being 
drawn  down  with  the  Sounding  Whale — Providential  Res- 
cue— Boat-race  with  a  Team  of  Whales — A  Monster  in  his 
Flurry  pitching  downward  and  Dying  without  Rising — One 
Whale  Falling  bodily  upon  a  Boat  fast  to  another — Limbs 
broken  and  Lives  lost — Reflections  of  the  Rescued — The 
Heart  under  the  Pea  Jacket 136 


x  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  X. 

CONQUEST  AND   DISPOSAL  OF  A  BULL  WHALE. 

Off  the  Rio  de  la  Plata — Gauge  and  Dimensions  of  a  conquer- 
ed Sperai  Whale — Cavity  of  the  Cranium  a  Shop  for  the 
Phrenologist — Way  of  disposing  the  vast  Bulk  of  the  Head 
— Surfeit  of  Birds  and  Capers  of  Sharks — Hazards  and  Toil 
of  Whalemen  little  known  by  those  whose  Lamps  they  are 
lighting  at  Home — Oily  Processes — Sperm  Candle  Manu- 
factories— Avenues  and  Limits  of  New  England  Enter- 
prise  Page  154 

CHAPTER  XI. 

AUTHENTIC  TRAGEDIES  AND  PERILS  OF  THE  WHALING  SERVICE. 

Contrasted  Lights  and  Shadows,  Good  and  Evil,  in  the  Life 
of  a  Whaleman — Boats  gone  and  Man  Overboard — Dread 
Thoughts  and  Prospects — Phantasms  of  the  Darkness — 
Return  of  the  Boats  and  Loss  of  poor  Berry — Horrible  Dis- 
covery by  a  Whaler  in  the  Seas  of  Greenland — A  Charnel 
Ship — An  awful  Warning — Rime  of  the  Ancient  Mariner 

164 

CHAPTER  XII. 

YARNS   FROM  THE  EXPERIENCE  OF  OLD  WHALEMEN. 

An  old  Man's  Yarn  Spun  out  of  the  Recollections  of  Whaling 
Life  in  Youth — Boat  tapped  by  a  Whale — Lancing  Deep — 
Captain  and  Boat-steerer  plunged  into  the  Brine — Way  to 
mend  a  stoven  Boat  in  an  Emergency — Reward  of  Courage 
and  Patience — Dead  Spermaceti  Whale — A  Windfall  to  the 
Cremona — Exciting  Chase  for  a  Whale  between  Ships  of 
four  Nations — Romance  of  Rival  Whaling — Victory  to  the 
American 182 


CONTENTS.  xi 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

PECULIAR  VOCABULARY  AND   HAZARDS  OF  WHALEMEN. 

Whaleman's  Contribution  for  an  Appendix  to  Webster's  Dic- 
tionary— A  Treatise  on  Gamming — Savory  Comparisons — 
Appalling  Forms  of  Danger  encountered  by  Whalemen — 
Singular  Exploit  of  a  Bull  Whale — Difference  between 
rational  Conjecture  and  melancholy  Fact — Effect  produced 
by  Familiarity  with  Danger Page  203 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

REMARKABLE   EVENTS  IN   THE   ANNALS   OF  WHALING. 

Facts  from  which  to  estimate  the  prodigious  Speed  and 
Strength  of  the  Whale — Terrible  Destruction  of  the  Essex 
by  being  run  upon  by  a  Sperm  Whale — Sufferings  and  Fate 
of  the  Crew — Similar  Catastrophe  to  the  Union  and  a 
Merchant  Brig — Remarkable  Adventures  and  Escape — A 
lone  Boat  demolished  by  a  Whale  fifteen  Miles  from  the 
Ship — Prayer  of  the  doomed  Mariners — Unexpected  De- 
liverance— A  Whale-boat  driven  into  a  Whale's  Mouth — 
The  Leap  and  the  Rescue — A  hard  Life  and  the  Characters 
it  forms — The  Virtues  that  are  found  growing  in  a  Whale 
Ship— The  Life  to  live 211 

CHAPTER  XV. 

CLAIMS   AND  ADVANTAGES  OF  THE  SABBATH  IN  A  WHALE   SHIP. 

A  flagrant  Abuse  of  the  Lord's  Day — Estimated  Number  of 
Persons  employed  in  the  Whale  Fishery — Sabbath-break- 
ing Usages  to  which  they  are  subjected  on  Board  Ship — 
Sundry  common  Excuses  in  its  Defense — Ten  Propositions 
in  Reply—Opposite  Instances  of  Sabbath  Breakers — The 
Godliness  Satan  is  pleased  with — Schoolcraft  on  the  Sab- 
bath—Zest after  Rest — Charge  to  the  Sabbath  Keeper. 230 


xii  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

A    PLEA   IN  BEHALF  OF  THE  SABBATH  FOR  WHALEMEN. 

The  two  Buttresses  of  Sabbath  Whaling — Owners'  Greediness 
of  Gain — Lucre  Stronger  than  Law — Testimony  of  an  Amer- 
ican Foreign  Missionary — Silence  of  the  Clergy  in  Whaling 
Ports — Inconsistency  of  Religious  Revivals  sending  forth 
Sabbath-breaking  Converts — Christianity  giving  Shelter  to, 
and  getting  a  Name  from  Sin — The  Puritan's  Praises  oftener 
heard  than  the  Puritan's  Morals  exemplified — Supposed 
Remonstrance  of  a  Delegation  of  Pilgrims — Sabbath-keep- 
ing Experience  of  Captain  Scoresby — Expostulation  with 
Owners,  Ship-masters,  Seamen,  and  Others — A  good  Time 
coming Page  244 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

NEARING  HOME  AND  ANALOGIES  FROM  THE  SEA. 

Hopes  and  Fears  on  coming  Home  after  being  long  away — 
Thickening  Dangers  at  the  Close  of  a  Voyage — Pilgrim  Land 
Light-house  —  The  last  Sermon  on  Shipboard — Evening 
Prayer-meeting — Pearl-finding — Lesson  from  a  Captain  in 
Sounding — Spiritual  Analogies — Fruits  of  the  Voyage. 265 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

KNITTING  UP  THE   LESSONS   OF  THE  VOYAGE  AT  ITS   CLOSE. 

Wrecks  met  with  in  the  Gulf  Stream  like  the  Wrecks  of  old 
Opinions — Lesson  learned  from  the  Ship's  Behavior  in  a 
Gale — Illustration  of  Faith  from  the  Experience  of  a  young 
Ship-master — Promises  of  God's  Word  like  the  Mariner's 
Life-lines — Analogy  between  the  Albatross  on  a  Ship's  Deck 
and  the  Christian  in  Trial — Magnetism  and  Workings  of 
Faith  Illustrated  by  the  Oscillations  of  the  Mariner's  Needle 
— Instruction  from  taking  a  Pilot — Painful  Intelligence  of 
the  Doings  of  Death — Tribute  to  a  departed  Brother.. 276 


CONTENTS.  xiii 


NOTES. 

Scenes  iu  the  Pacific — Former  Fate  of  shipwrecked  Mariners 
— A  Ship  with  the  Scurvy — How  entertained,  and  why — 
The  Change  made  by  Missionaries — Reflections  and  Re- 
membrances of  a  Boat-steerer — Boat's  Crew  lost  in  a  Fog 
— The  Loss  and  Recovery  of  three  Boats  on  the  Line  be- 
longing to  the  Harriet — Rights,  and  Wrongs,  and  Disabili- 
ties of  common  Whalemen — Sabbath-keeping  Experience 
in  the  Whale  Fishery  of  Rev.  William  Scoresby — Eviden- 
ces of  the  Blessing  of  Providence  upon  the  Observance  of 
the  Sabbath — Obvious  physical  Benefits  as  well  as  spirit- 
ual— Question  considered  whether  a  Whaling  Captain 
should  himself  go  in  the  Boats — The  Danger  and  Inexpe- 
diency of  it  illustrated  by  Facts — Sufferings  of  Captain 
Hosmer  and  Boat's  Crew  of  the  Bark  Janet Page  291 


LIST  OF  ENGRAVINGS. 

A  Polar  Right  Whale  on  the  Ice VignSte. 

Look-out  in  the  Crow's  Nest 17 

The  Commodore  Preble  taking  Supplies  at  Rimatara.. .  34 

View  of  a  Whale  Ship  in  the  Process  of  Cutting-in 55 

Whaling  Implements 61 

Perpendicular  and  side  Views  of  the  Slabs  of  Whalebone  81 

View  of  the  Harpooner  and  Whale  in  close  Quarters 92 

View  of  a  Right  Whale  overturning  a  Boat 102 

Combat  between  a  Whale  and  the  Sea  Serpent 123 

View  of  a  Whale-boat  crushed  by  a  Whale 149 

Boat  returning  from  the  Search  for  poor  Berry 170 

Exploit  of  an  American  Harpooner  in  Delego  Bay 200 

Whale  dragging  the  Boats  of  the  Bounty 213 

View  of  a  Whale  staving  a  Boat 221 

Picture  of  a  Whale-boat  thrown  into  a  Whale's  Mouth.  226 

View  of  a  Sabbath-keeping  Whale  Ship 260 

Picture  of  the  Commodore  Pi'eble  homeward  bound  ...  271 


There  she  blows  !     There  she  blows  ! 

Man  the  boats  !     For  nothing  stay  ! 
Such  a  prize  we  must  not  lose ! 

Lay  to  your  oars  !     Away  !  away  i 


THE  WHALE  AND  HIS  CAPTORS. 


THE  WHALE  AND  HIS  CAPTORS, 


CHAPTER   I. 

INTRODUCTION. 

The  mighty  whale  doth  in  those  harbors  lye, 
Whose  oyle  the  careful  merchant  deare  will  buy. 

Old  English  Poem. 

Primitive  Whalemen.  Exploits  of  Old  Ochter. 

FROM  very  early  times  it  is  probable  that 
Northwest  Indians,  Esquimaux,  and  Nor- 
wegians were  in  the  habit  of  capturing  whales 
in  their  rude  way,  in  order  to  supply  themselves 
with  fat  and  food.  There  is  a  curious  tradition 
extant  of  one  Ochter,  a  Norwegian,  who,  as 
long  ago  as  King  Alfred's  time,  "  was  one  of 
six  that  had  killed  sixty  whales  in  two  days, 
of  which  some  were  forty-eight,  some  fifty 
yards  long."  But  the  Biscayans  are  believed 
to  have  been  the  first  people  who  prosecuted 
the  whale  fishery  as  a  commercial  pursuit,  so 
far  back  as  the  twelfth  century.  In  the  north 
of  Europe  and  all  around  the  Bay  of  Biscay 


22  THE   WHALE   AND 


DuVe'-ent  Whale  Catchers.  Dutch  Whale  Diggings. 

whale's  tonguer,  were  among  the  table  delica- 
cies of  the  Middle  Ages. 

When  this  branch  of  industry  failed  with 
them,  by  reason  of  whales  ceasing  to  visit  the 
Bay  of  Biscay,  the  English  and  Dutch,  taught 
by  the  Biscayans,  l  who  were  best  experienced  in 
that  facultie  of  whale-striking,'  took  it  up  in  the 
Northern  Seas,  where  the  gigantic  game  was 
then  every  where  found  in  vast  numbers  by 
navigators  in  search  of  the  northern  passage  to 
the  Indies.  By  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  the  Dutch  had  built  the  considerable 
village  of  Smeerenburg,  on  the  Isle  of  Amster- 
dam, along  the  northern  shore  of  Spitzbergen, 
within  only  eleven  degrees  of  the  North  Pole, 
where  the  unbroken  night  is  from  September 
to  March,  and  the  day  from  March  to  Septem- 
ber. This  was  the  great  rendezvous  of  Dutch 
whale  ships,  and  it  being  their  practice  to  boil 
the  blubber  on  shore,  it  was  amply  provided 
with  boilers,  tanks,  and  all  the  apparatus  then 
used  for  preparing  the  oil  and  bone. 

This  fishing  colony  of  the  frozen  zone,  an  in- 
cidental fruit  of  those  daring  adventures  after 
a  northeast  route  to  India,  was  founded  nearly 
at  the  same  time  with  Batavia  in  the  East,  and 


His   CAPTORS.  23 

Arctic  Whaling  Colony.  First  Nantucket  Whale  Killing. 

it  was  for  a  considerable  time  doubtful  which 
of  the  two  would  be  most  important  to  the 
mother  country.  When  in  its  most  flourishing 
state,  near  1680,  the  Dutch  whale  fishery  em- 
ployed two  hundred  and  sixty  ships  and  four- 
teen thousand  seamen.  This  singular  village 
and  Bay  of  Smeerenburg,  where  there  were 
seen  at  one  time  by  the  Dutch  navigator  Zorg- 
drager  no  less  than  one  hundred  and  eighty- 
eight  vessels,  afford,  perhaps,  the  most  remark- 
able instance  on  record  of  what  commerce  can 
do  against  unyielding  laws  of  Nature,  and  over 
obstructions  which  it  would  seem  impossible  to 
surmount.  But  how  soon  does  Nature,  if  ever 
temporarily  displaced,  resume  her  sway.  Now 
that  the  whales  have  long  since  deserted  those 
parts,  even  the  site  of  the  old  Arctic  colony  is 
hardly  discernible,  and  the  English  branch  of 
the  Greenland  whale  fishery  is  all  that  is  pros- 
ecuted in  those  seas,  and  that  with  very  mod- 
erate success. 

The  first  person  that  is  recorded  to  have  kill- 
ed a  whale  among  the  people  of  New  England 
was  one  William  Hamilton,  somewhere  between 
1660  and  1670.  In  the  town  records  of  Nan- 
tucket,  there  is  a  copy  of  an  agreement  entered 


24  THE   WHALE   AND 

Yankee  Whale  Fixings.  Cape  Cod  Enterprise. 

into  in  the  year  1672,  between  one  James  Lo- 
par  and  the  settlers  there,  "  to  carry  on  a.  de- 
sign of  whale  fishing."  But  whether  the  first 
proper  whaling  harpoon  used  in  America  was 
wrought  there  or  on  Cape  Cod  can  not  be  as- 
certained. From  this  time  onward,  whenever 
whales  were  descried  in  the  bay  or  offing  from 
the  rude  look-outs  constructed  along  shore,  no- 
tice was  instantly  spread,  and  they  were  at- 
tacked by  boats  then  manned  mostly  by  the  In- 
dians, who  early  evinced  an  aptitude  and  fond- 
ness for  this  business.  Shore- whaling  seems  to 
have  reached  its  height  by  1726,  during  which 
year  eighty-six  whales  were  taken,  eleven  in  one 
day.  It  was  continued  with  declining  success 
up  to  1760,  and  for  seventy  years  preceding 
that  date  not  a  single  white  man  is  known  to 
have  lost  his  life  in  the  hazardous  pursuit. 

As  early  as  1700,  they  began  to  fit  out  ves- 
sels from  Cape  Cod  and  Nantucket  to  "  whale 
out  in  the  deep  for  sperm  whales."  These  grad- 
ually crept  along,  emboldened  by  experience, 
north  to  the  Labradors  and  south  to  the  Ba- 
hamas, where  New  Providence  became  famous 
as  a  whale-fishing  station,  through  the  skill  and 
daring  of  New  England  enterprise,  while,  as 


His  CAPTORS.  25 

Atlantic  Whale  Fishery.  Freiiqh  Whaling  Fleet. 

Burke  said,  but  in  the  gristle,  and  not  yet  hard- 
ened into  the  bone  of  manhood. 

By  the  year  1771,  New  England,  through 
her  adventurous  whale  fishery,  was  both  in  the 
North  and  South  Atlantic  Oceans,  commanding 
the  admiration  of  the  world,  and  eulogized  by 
the  highest  eloquence  of  the  British  Parliament 
From  the  year  1771  to  1775,  Massachusetts 
alone  employed  in  it  annually  three  hundred 
and  four  vessels,  of  twenty-seven  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  forty-six  tons  burden.  The  quan- 
tity of  oil  brought  into  Nantucket  yearly  at  the 
time  of  the  breaking  out  of  the  Revolutionary 
war,  was  thirty  thousand  barrels. 

Stimulated  by  their  success,  both  France  and 
Great  Britain  now  entered  anew  into  this  lu- 
crative enterprise  ;  Louis  XVI.  himself  fitting 
out  six  ships  from  Dunkirk  on  his  own  account, 
in  1784,  which  were  furnished  with  experienced 
harpooners  and  able  seamen  from  Nantucket. 
In  1790,  France  had  about  forty  ships  employed 
in  the  fishery,  but  the  wars  consequent  upon 
the  French  Revolution  at  once  swept  them  all, 
and  the  whaling  fleet  of  Holland  also ;  as  did 
the  War  for  Independence  likewise  suspend 
this  lucrative  branch  of  the  commerce  of  New 


26  THE   WHALE   AND 

Whaling  Losses.  Whaling  Crosses. 

England.  By  reason  of  it,  no  less  than  one 
hundred  and  fifty  of  her  vessels  were  either  cap- 
tured ox  lost  at  sea,  and  great  numbers  of  her 
seamen  perished. 

In  1788  Great  Britain  had  the  honor  of 
opening  the  Pacific  to  the  sperm  whale  fishery, 
through  the  Amelia,  Captain  Shields,  fitted  out 
at  vast  expense  by  Mr.  Enderby,  of  London. 
Her  unprecedented  success  started  numbers  on 
her  track  both  from  New  England  and  Old, 
and  by  1820  the  whole  South  Pacific  and  In- 
dian Oceans  were  traversed  by  intrepid  whale- 
men ;  and  in  the  seas  of  China  and  on  the 
coasts  of  Japan  they  were  drawing  the  line  and 
striking  the  harpoon  into  those  mammoth  den- 
izens of  the  deep. 

Prostrated,  however,  by  the  Revolutionary 
war,  the  New  England  branch  of  the  whale 
fishery  had  hardly  recovered  its  former  prosper- 
ity, when  the  last  war  with  Great  Britain,  from 
1812  to  1815,  again  broke  it  up.  But  upon 
the  restoration  of  peace  its  recovery  was  rapid ; 
so  that  by  1821  there  were  owned  in  Nantucket 
alone  (which  had  lost  during  the  war  twenty- 
seven  ships),  seventy-eight  whale  ships,  and  six 
whaling  brigs.  In  1844,  the  entire  American 


His   CAPTORS.  27 

Whaling  Progress.  Whaling  Profits. 

whaling  fleet  amounted  to  six  hundred  and  fifty 
ships,  barks,  brigs,  and  schooners,  tonnaging 
two  hundred  thousand  tons ;  and  they  were 
manned  by  seventeen  thousand  five  hundred 
officers  and  seamen.  At  the  same  time,  the 
English  whale  fishery,  which  in  1821  em- 
ployed three  hundred  and  twenty-three  ships, 
was  reduced  to  only  eighty-five.  But  the  New 
Holland  branch  of  the  English  whale  fishery 
was  rapidly  growing,  the  proximity  of  those 
whaling  ports  of  Australia  to  some  of  the  most 
productive  cruising  grounds  enabling  the  ships 
fitted  out  there  to  perform  three  voyages  while 
the  English  and  Americans  are  performing  two. 
The  number  of  whale  ships  from  French,  Ger- 
man, and  Danish  ports,  at  the  same  time,  was 
between  sixty  and  seventy. 

The  estimated  annual  consumption  of  the 
American  whaling  fleet  was  $3,845,500.  Val- 
ue of  the  annual  import  of  oil  and  whalebone 
in  a  crude  state  $7,000,000,  increased  by  man- 
ufacturing to  $9,000,000.  The  number  of 
vessels  in  the  American  whale  fishery  the  pres- 
ent year,  .1849,  as  gathered  from  the  "  Whale- 
man's Shipping  List,"  is  estimated  at  six  hund- 
red and  ten,  or  one  hundred  and  ninety-six 


28  THE  WHALE  AND 

Whaling  Capital.  Whaling  Products. 

thousand  one  hundred  and  thirteen  tons,  near- 
ly one  tenth  of  the  navigation  of  the  Union. 
Receipts  of  sperm  oil  the  last  year,  1848,  one 
hundred  and  seven  thousand  nine  hundred  and 
seventy-six  barrels,  at  an  import  value  of 
$3,455,232.  Receipts  of  right- whale  oil  in  the 
same  time,  two  hundred  and  eighty  thousand 
six  hundred  and  fifty-six  barrels,  at  an  import 
value  of  $3,429,494.  Whalebone,  two  million 
three  thousand  six  hundred  pounds,  worth 
$508,762.  Crude  value  of  the  whale  fishery  in 
1848,  $7,393,488. 

The  average  yearly  quantity  of  sperm  oil 
taken  for  nine  years  has  been  one  hundred  and 
forty-two  thousand  two  hundred  and  forty-two 
barrels ;  of  right- whale  oil,  two  hundred  and  fif- 
ty-five thousand  four  hundred  and  fifty-six  bar- 
rels; of  bone,  two  million  three  hundred  and 
twenty-four  thousand  five  hundred  and  seven- 
ty-eight pounds.  Average  yearly  value  for  nine 
years,  $8,098,360.  There  was  a  falling  off  in 
1848,  from  the  previous  year,  of  thirteen  thou- 
sand barrels  of  sperm,  thirty-three  thousand  bar- 
rels of  right  whale,  and  one  million  pounds  of 
bone.  Eighteen  years  ago  it  was  estimated, 
by  taking  into  account  all  the  investments  con- 


His  CAPTORS.  29 

Whaling  Ports.  Whaling  Grounds. 

nected  with  the  American  whale  fishery,  that 
property  to  the  amount  of  $70,000,000  was  in- 
volved in  it,  and  that  seventy  thousand  persons 
derived  from  it  their  chief  subsistence  ;  a  valu- 
ation which  should  be  much  augmented  rather 
than  diminished  at  the  present  time. 

The  New  Bedford  district  now  supplies  to  the 
whale  fishery  one  hundred  and  two  thousand 
three  hundred  and  five  tons.  All  other  ports, 
including  sixty-six  ships,  or  twenty-three  thou- 
sand tons  from  Nantucket,  give  ninety-three 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  eight,  in  all  one 
hundred  and  ninety-six  thousand  one  hundred 
and  thirteen  tons.  The  exports  of  oil  to  foreign 
ports,  in  1848,  from  New  Bedford,  were  seven- 
teen thousand  and  ninety -three  barrels. 

To  those  who  are  in  quest  of  definite  inform- 
ation concerning  the  various  cruising  grounds 
and  the  times  of  finding  whales  there,  the  clos- 
ing chapter  of  the  Annals  of  the  United  States 
Exploring  Squadron  is  the  most  satisfactory  of 
any  thing  to  be  found.  It  should  be  printed  in 
pamphlet  form,  and  kept  in  the  chart-box  of 
every  whaler.  Other  interesting  matter,  of  a 
miscellaneous  character,  pertaining  to  the  whale 
fishery,  is  to  be  found  in  the  appendix  to  a  work 


30  THE  WHALE  AND 

Whaling  Literature.  Whaling  Life. 

of  J.  R.  Browne,  called  "  Etchings  of  a  Whal- 
ing Cruise,"  and  in  a  volume  entitled  "  Inci- 
dents of  a  Whaling  Voyage,  by  F.  A.  Olmsted." 
Without  superseding  or  conflicting  with  ei- 
ther of  those  entertaining  books,  the  course  pur- 
sued in  the  present  volume  is  an  independent 
one,  whereby  it  is  aimed  to  finish  the  comple- 
ment of  whaling  literature,  and  supply  what 
was  wanting,  in  order  to  put  the  reading  pub- 
lic in  possession  of  a  full-length  portraiture  of 
the  whaleman  as  seen  in  the  actual  pursuit  and 
garb  of  his  perilous  occupation.  Personal  nar- 
rative and  incident,  other  than  what  bears  di- 
rectly upon  this,  are  therefore  omitted,  together 
with  those  minute  descriptions  of  whaling  im- 
plements, outfits,  modes,  customs,  and  sea- 
usages  to  be  found  elsewhere.  Neither  does  it 
enter  into  our  purpose  to  portray  a  sailor's  life 
and  manners  in  the  forecastle  or  before  the 
mast,  alow  or  aloft,  for  this  is  a  department  of 
marine  literature  in  which  books  are  so  numer- 
ous, both  in  the  form  of  the  novel  and  the  sea 
journal,  that  little  remains  to  be  told.  In  ad- 
ventures, however,  almost  every  whaleman's 
voyage  is  an  original,  certainly  so  to  himself. 
We  begin,  therefore,  at  once,  with  the  peculiar 


His    CAPTORS.  31 

Homeward  Ho  !  Propitious  Omens. 

lights  and  shadows  of  a  homeward  cruise  in  the 
Pacific  and  Atlantic,  from  the  Sandwich  Isl- 
ands to  Boston,  in  the  good  ship  Commodore 
Preble,  Captain  Lafayette  Ludlow. 

In  a  voyage  of  two  hundred  and  thirty-six 
days  there  will  always  be  lights  and  shadows, 
good  and  evil,  pleasures  and  displeasures,  inter- 
locking one  another.  To  the  author  the  com- 
forts of  this  long  voyage  far  exceeded  its  dis- 
comforts, by  the  constant  blessing  of  Provi- 
dence, making  it  eminently  conducive  to  the 
recovery  of  health,  and  through  the  personal 
kindness  of  a  skillful  captain  and  esteemed 
friend.  Would  that  every  wanderer  in  quest 
of  health  could  be  cheerfully  returning  home- 
ward under  circumstances  as  favorable  ! 


Now,  little  book,  with  prosperous  tide  and  gale 
I'll  pledge  tliee  to  a  voyage  round  the  world. 
Buoyant  and  bounding  like  the  polar  whale, 
That  takes  his  pastime,  every  joyful  sail 
Here  to  the  freedom  of  the  wind  unfurl, 
While  right  and  left  the  parted  surges  curl ! 


32  THE   WHALE   AND 

South  Sea  Coral  Island.  Lonely  Rimatara. 


CHAPTER   II. 

CORAL    ISLAND    OF    RIMATARA. 

Hnppy  they  were,  and  without  a  care, 
Who  had  made  their  home  forever  there ; 
Happy  they  were,  and  calm  and  free, 

Living  upon  their  island-home, 
Whose  beach  was  girt  with  a  silvery  sea, 

That  sprinkled  it  ever  with  starry  foam. 
Their  life  was  a  moving  melody, 
Their  season  a  long  serenity.— STORY. 

THE  first  view  we  have  of  the  Commodore 
Preble  is  as  she  is  lying  off  and  on  the  lone 
island  of  Rimatara,  in  quest  of  the  fresh  sup- 
plies which  whalemen  covet  in  order  to  keep 
at  bay  the  scurvy.  This  is  one  of  those  fas- 
cinating South  Sea  Islands,  which,  on  their 
first  discovery  by  Europeans  in  the  latter  part 
of  the  last  century,  quite  turned  the  heads  of 
many,  and  at  once  started  so  much  speculative 
nonsense  and  sentimentality  about  primeval  in- 
nocence and  bliss  embosomed  in  the  Pacific. 

A  coral  rock,  by  gentle  Nature  made 
Verdant  and  beautiful,  through  tropic  sun, 

And  fertilizing  rain,  and  grateful  shade  ; 
Placed  far  amid  the  melancholy  main. 


His   CAPTORS.  35 

Sign-post  of  Christianity.  Night  Tack. 

It  is  about  seven  miles  long,  one  and  a  half 
or  two  wide,  and  lies  in  152°  west  longitude, 
and  22°  45'  south  latitude  ;  about  five  hundred 
miles  southwest  from  Tahiti.  It  is  properly, 
perhaps,  one  of  the  Society  Island  group,  being 
a  mere  pile  of  corallite  and  wave- washed  coral 
sand.  "We  came  in  sight  of  it  on  Tuesday 
afternoon,  a  blue  hummock  on  the  bosom  of 
the  ocean,  and  ran  on  until  we  discovered,  to 
our  great  delight,  what  could  not  be  mistaken 
for  a  meeting-house  and  a  white  flag  flying  on 
a  post  near  by,  to  indicate  the  friendliness  of 
the  natives,  and  induce  us  to  stop  for  trade. 

The  sea  broke  so  high  upon  the  northeast 
and  southwest  points  of  the  island,  and,  indeed, 
all  along  shore,  that  our  captain  did  not  deem 
it  prudent  to  attempt  landing  that  night.  We 
therefore  stood  off  until  twelve  o'clock  midnight, 
and  then  tacking,  were  up  with  it  again  by  ten 
o'clock  next  morning,  on  the  leeward  side. 

The  island  presented  a  beautiful  appearance, 
being  thickly  wooded  to  the  water's  edge,  and 
elevated  in  some  parts  into  gentle  hills,  crowned 
with  all  the  various  and  luxuriant  growth  of 
the  tropics.  Canoes  soon  launched  out  through 
the  boisterous  surf,  and  came  alongside  of  us, 


36  THE   WHALE   AND 

Trade  with  the  Natives.  Letter  from  Teutino. 

having  two  or  three  lads  and  men  in  each,  much 
fairer-skinned  and  better  looking  than  the  ma- 
jority of  Hawaiians. 

The  captain's  boat  anchored  off  the  reef, 
while  the  natives  brought  their  articles  of  trade 
in  their  pigmy  canoes.  By  four  in  the  afternoon 
he  had  procured  a  boat-load  of  pigs  and  cocoa- 
nuts,  with  which  returning  to  the  ship,  we 
stood  off  again  until  next  morning,  when  the 
captain  gave  orders  for  two  boats. 

One  of  our  sailors  by  the  name  of  Johnson, 
that  had  lived  on  Tahiti,  and  could  talk  a  little 
in  their  tongue,  had  told  the  natives  the  day 
before  that  there  was  on  board  a  missionary,  or  a 
missionary's  friend,  from  Hawaii,  and  there  was 
accordingly  sent  off  through  him,  on  a  slip  of 
paper,  very  legibly  written  by  the  native  teach- 
er, a  Rimatara  letter,  of  which  the  following  is 
a  literal  translation : 

"  Dear  Friend  and  Father, — 

"  May  you  be  saved  by  the  true  God.  This 
is  our  communication  to  you.  Come  thou  hith- 
er upon  the  shore,  that  we  may  see  you  in  re- 
spect to  all  the  words  of  God  which  are  right 
with  you.  It  is  our  desire  that  you  come  to-day. 
"  From  Teutino  and  his  brethren." 


His   CAPTORS.  37 

Landing  through  the  Surf.         Characteristics  of  the  People. 

Eager  to  know  something  more  of  a  people 
from  whom  came  so  cordial  an  aloha,  and 

My  very  heart  athirst 
To  look  on  Nature  in  her  robe  of  green, 

I  made  ready  to  go  ashore.  The  breakers  were 
not  formidable  enough,  though  beating  with 
fearful  violence,  to  make  me  forego  the  novelty 
of  setting  foot  on  a  coral  South  Pacific  island, 
and  the  pleasure  of  a  stroll  among  the  trees 
after  seven  weeks  at  sea.  Taking,  therefore, 
a  life-preserver,  I  ventured  into  one  of  the  little 
canoes  that  came  alongside  the  boat,  and  was 
paddled  and  handed  by  a  narrow  cleft,  through 
roaring  breakers  and  ragged  rocks  that  threat- 
ened instant  destruction,  among  which  a  com- 
mon boat  could  hardly  live  a  moment.  Those 
frail  canoes,  however,  only  nine  and  eleven  feet 
long,  carried  safely  through,  one  by  one,  all  that 
ventured  ashore. 

Immediately  on  our  landing,  the  natives 
gathered  around  and  formed  a  ring,  naturally 
curious,  like  savages  every  where,  to  notice 
every  thing,  and  I  not  less  so  to  observe  their 
own  eager  attitudes,  expressive  gestures,  and 
fine  looks.  The  women  have  an  uncommonly 
pleasing  aspect  of  countenance,  clear  skin,  but 


38  THE   WHALE   AND 

Maiden  Beauty.  Island  King  Temaeva. 

a  shade  or  two  darker  than  a  dark  brunette, 
black  eyes,  hair,  and  eyebrows,  and  a  capti- 
vating beauty  of  form,  and  bashful  turning 
away  when  looked  at,  that  is  not  a  little  attrac- 
tive. Their  nostrils 'are  not  so  negro-like,  nor 
their  lips  so  thick  as  those  of  the  Hawaiians, 
but  still  they  bear  to  them  a  close  resemblance. 
Many  of  the  little  girls  and  maidens  were  truly 
beautiful,  and  would  be  deemed  paragons,  even 
in  the  artificial  state  where  beauty  is  not  left 
so  much  to  itself,  but  has  to  be  busked,  bustled, 
and  corseted  by  omnipotent  fashion. 

I  soon  made  my  way  to  the  island  king,  Tem- 
aeva, who  sat  apart  from  others  upon  a  block  of 
coral,  and  leaning  on  a  staff,  his  only  dress  being 
a  shirt  and  kihei  (mantle).  He  was  a  benevo- 
lent-looking, well-made  man,  having  the  port 
and  presence  of  a  king,  and,  if  that  were  all, 

With  Atlantean  shoulders  fit  to  bear 
The  weight  of  mightiest  monarchies. 

He  offered  me  his  hand  with  much  apparent 
cordiality,  and  immediately  led  the  way  to  his 
house  in  the  interior.  The  path  was  at  first 
rugged  as  the  volcanic  clinkers  of  Hawaii,  over 
heaps  and  swells  of  broken  and  sharp  coral, 
overgrown  with  huge  roots  of  the  Kamani  and 


His   CAPTORS.  39 

Stroll  into  the  Interior.  Island  Metropolis. 

Koa  trees,  in  the  borrowed  terms  of  Words- 
worth, 

A  growth 

Of  intertwisted  fibres  serpentine, 
Up-coiling,  and  inveterately  convolved. 

This  barrier  passed,  there  was  a  subsidence 
and  inclining  of  the  island  inward,  and  the  path 
went  through  a  meadow  of  bulrushes,  in  time 
of  rain  Hooded.  The  soil  was  a  rich  black  loam. 
Next  came  beds  of  wet  kalo  (Arum  esculen- 
tum),  very  luxuriant  and  large,  beyond  which 
were  the  houses  of  the  king  and  native  mis- 
sionary teachers,  the  chapel,  school-house,  and 
principal  settlement.  These  were  prettily-made 
buildings  of  kamanu  posts,  wattled  between, 
lined  on  both  sides  with  a  good  coat  of  white- 
washed plaster,  and  thatched  on  the  roof  with 
grass.  Being  clustered  tastefully  together,  they 
make  a  very  pleasing  appearance  outside. 

The  chapel  and  house  of  the  king  were  fur- 
nished with  flooring  and  settees.  In  the  former 
was  a  round  pulpit,  very  much  like  those  seen 
in  popish  cathedrals,  wherever  is  seen  at  all 
what  popery  is  by  no  means  fond  of — the  pul- 
pit. They  had  been  built  Eleven  years,  it  being 
more  than  twenty,  we  were  told,  since  the  isl- 


40  THE    WHALE   AND 

Footsteps  of  Christianity.  Mission  Premises. 

and  was  first  Christianized  by  native  missiona- 
ries from  Tahiti.  They  were  all  surrounded 
by  a  low  paling  of  posts  driven  slightly  into  the 
ground,  merely  to  keep  out  hogs  ;  while  cocoa- 
nut  trees  and  giant  bananas  were  dropping  their 
fruits  all  around.  The  whole  scene,  in  every  fea- 
ture, was  most  pleasingly  corroborative  of  the 
representations  quoted  by  Harris  in  "  The  Great 
Commission,"  to  show  the  temporal  utility  of 
missionary  exertions  in  the  South  Seas.  "  In- 
stead of  their  little,  contemptible  huts  along  the 
sea-beach,  there  will  be  seen  a  neat  settlement, 
with  a  large  chapel  in  the  center,  capable  of  con- 
taining one  or  two  thousand  people  ;  a  school- 
house  on  the  one  side,  and  a  chief's  or  the  mis- 
sionary's house  on  the  other  ;  and  a  range  of 
white  cottages  a  mile  or  two  long,  peeping  at 
you  from  under  the  splendid  banana-trees  or  the 
bread-fruit  groves.  So  that  their  comfort  is  in- 
creased and  their  character  elevated." 

Soon  after  reaching  this  little  metropolis  of 
the  island,  the  king  had  baked  pig  and  delicious 
kalo  placed  upon  a  massive  rude  table,  and  plates 
of  English  crockery,  with  knives  and  forks.  A 
blessing  was  asked  b^  the  native  teacher,  and  I 
was  invited  to  eat.  It  was,  in  their  view,  an  im- 


His   CAPTORS.  41 

A  King's  Banquet.  Eden  Cream.  Novel  Nectar. 

portant  piece  of  courtesy,  which  a  recent  break- 
fast rather  unfitted  me  for  ;  yet  I  ate,  with  com- 
pliments, of  the  mealy  kalo,  and  tasted  of  the 
pig,  while  the  king  was  taking  huge  morsels 
that  would  almost  sink  a  common  man. 

The  wine  of  this  feast  was  the  delicious  milk 
of  young  cocoa-nuts  just  from  the  tree ;  and  I 
will  venture  to  say  that  Hebe  never  poured  such 
nectar  into  the  goblets  of  the  gods.  It  was  more 
like  that  which  Eve  made  ready  once  in  Eden, 
as  the  poet  tells,  wherewith  to  entertain  their 
angel  guest : 

With  inoffensive  must  and  meathea, 
From  many  a  berry  and  from  sweet  kernels  pressed, 
She  tempers  dulcet  creams  ;  nor  them  to  hold 
Wants  her  fit  vessels  pure  ;  then  strews  the  ground 
With  rose  and  odors  from  the  shrub  unfumed. 

This  entertainment  over,  we  repaired  to  the 
teacher's,  where  again  was  served  up  the  same, 
with  the  addition  of  banana  made  into  a  poi,  of 
which  the  king  ate  freely.  I  was  here  present- 
ed with  a  couple  of  rolls  of  white  kapa  by  the 
good  woman  of  the  house.  After  surveying  the 
premises,  getting  a  specimen  of  the  king  and 
teacher's  handwriting,  and  giving  them  a  card 
to  certify  any  other  chance  ship  of  their  hospi- 
tality, I  returned  to  the  shore  by  another  path, 


42  THE   WHALE   AND 

Tropical  Fruit-trees,  Kingship  and  Democracy. 

through  a  dense  wood,  coming  out  of  it  on  the 
windward  side  of  the  island,  by  the  old  church 
and  grave-yard,  where  Temaeva  pointed  out  the 
tomb  of  a  former  wife,  having  the  date  of  her 
death  rudely  cut  in  a  coral  slab. 

The  cocoa-nuts  passed  were  numberless,  shed- 
ding their  fruit  by  thousands  ;  also  lofty  and 
straight  pandanuses,  kukuis,  and  milo  trees. 
Following  round  the  shore  to  the  point  at  which 
we  had  struck  off  into  the  woods,  we  found  the 
captain  there  busy  trading.  I  pleased  myself 
a  while  with  looking  at  those  mixed  and  motley 
groups,  and  trying  to  communicate  with  the 
harmless  Arimatarians,  and  then  went  off  to 
the  boat  through  the  outrageous  surf,  inly  wish- 
ing I  could  leave  with  them  some  substantial 
and  enduring  testimony  of  good  will. 

The  king  and  his  wife,  together  with  the  cap- 
tain, came,  one  by  one,  soon  after,  and  we  all 
pulled  off  to  the  ship,  where  the  king  seemed 
highly  gratified  with  his  entertainment  and  pres- 
ents. He  is  manifestly  king  but  in  name,  hav- 
ing to  promise  a  recompense  even  to  the  men 
that  brought  him  off  to  the  boat  in  their  canoe. 
The  Gospel  has  abolished  all  tyranny,  and,  as 
the  sailor  interpreted  it,  all  there  are  for  them- 


His   CAPTORS.  43 

Progress  in  the  Arts.  Tahitian  Teachers. 

selves,  and  without  distinctions.  They  are  four 
hundred  all  told,  and  live,  according  to  their  own 
telling,  in  much  peace,  being  visited  two  or  three 
times  a  year  by  whale  ships  for  recruits,  whose 
trade  just  keeps  them  (the  adults)  with  a  single 
cloth  garment,  or  kihei  a  piece. 

A  roughly-made  schooner,  of  kamanu  wood 
(much  like  our  mahogany),  was  on  the  stocks, 
for  which  they  were  very  anxious  to  get  tar, 
oakum,  and  a  compass.  No  white  missionary, 
we  were  told,  has  ever  resided  upon  the  island, 
but  all  their  imperfect  Christianization  and  ac- 
quaintance with  the  arts  have  been  effected  by 
native  teachers  from  Tahiti.  White  men  have 
stopped  on  the  island  occasionally,  but  they  say 
they  do  not  want  them,  unless  they  know  the 
language  and  have  some  trade. 

I  could  not  leave  this  secluded  and  lovely  isl- 
and, though  but  the  stopping-place  of  a  day,  and 
ere  long,  I  hope,  to  mingle  with  humanity  in  a 
wider  and  more  populous  field,  without  a  feel- 
ing of  sadness,  I  hardly  know  why.  But  so  it 
is  in  the  voyage  of  life,  especially  in  that  of  a 
traveler,  sailing  down  the  stream  of  time,  we 
hail  a  friendly  bark,  or  touch  here  and  there  at 
a  pleasant  landing-place  upon  its  banks,  pluck 


44  THE   WHALE   AND 

Thoughts  at  Leaving.  Seed  Dropping. 

a  few  fruits  and  flowers,  exchange  good  wishes 
and  kind  words  with  the  friends  of  a  day,  truly 
love  and  are  loved  by  some  congenial  hearts, 
both  drop  and  take  some  seeds  of  good  and  evil, 
to  spring  up  when  we  are  in  our  graves,  and 
then  we  are  away ;  the  places  that  now  know  us 
know  us  no  more  forever,  and  the  faces  that  now 
smile  upon  us  we  never  see  again.  Who  can 
help  sighing  as  he  thinks  of  it,  and  wishing  to 
leave,  wherever  he  goes,  some  durable  evidence 
that  an  immortal  spirit  has  passed  that  way ! 

Oh,  at  what  time  soever  thou 

(Unknown  to  me)  the  heavens  wilt  bow, 

And,  with  thy  angels  in  the  van, 

Descend  to  judge  poor  careless  man, 

Grant  I  may  not  like  puddle  lie, 

In  a  corrupt  security, 

Where,  if'a  traveler  water  crave, 

He  finds  it  dead,  and  in  a  grave  ; 

But  as  the  clear  running  spring 

All  day  and  night  doth  flow  and  sing ; 

And  though  here  born,  yet  is  acquainted 

Elsewhere,  and,  flowing,  keeps  untainted — 

So  let  me  all  my  busy  age 

In  thy  free  services  engage. 

And  though  (while  here)  of  force  I  must 

Have  commerce  sometimes  with  poor  dust, 

Yet  let  my  course,  my  aim,  my  love, 

And  chief  acquaintance  be  above  ; 

So  when  that  day  and  hour  shall  come 

In  which  thyself  will  be  the  sun, 

Thou'lt  find  me  dressed  and  on  my  way, 

Watching  the  break  of  thy  great  day. 


His   CAPTORS. 


A  Out  off. 


A  Rescue. 


An  Escape. 


How  different  now  our  reception  here  by  Isl- 
anders that  had  been  blessed  with  the  Bible, 
from  that  which  a  whale  ship  had  while  sailing 
along  in  this  same  Pacific  in  the  year  1835,  from 
barbarians  that  had  never  received  the  Gospel. 
A  large  number  of  natives  came  off,  as  to  us, 
for  purposes  of  trade.  No  treachery  was  sus- 
pected, and  all  for  a  while  went  on  amicably. 
But,  upon  a  signal  from  a  chief,  the  natives 
sprang  for  the  harpoons,  whale-spades,  and  other 
deadly  weapons  at  hand,  and  a  desperate  con- 
test immediately  ensued.  The  captain  was  kill- 
ed by  a  single  stroke  of  a  whale-spade ;  the  first 
mate  also,  soon  after.  The  second  mate  jump- 
ed overboard  and  was  killed  in  the  water,  and 
four  of  the  seamen  lost  their  lives.  A  part  of 
the  crew  ran  up  the  rigging  for  security,  and 
the  rest  into  the  forecastle. 

Among  these  last  was  a  young  man,  the  third 
mate,  by  the  name  of  Jones,  the  only  surviving 
officer.  By  his  cool  intrepidity  and  judgment, 
after  a  dreadful  encounter,  the  ship  was  cleared 
of  the  savages,  the  chief  killed,  and  many  of  his 
companions,  both  of  those  on  board  and  those 
who  came  alongside  to  aid  in  securing  the  ship. 

Jones  now  became  the  captain,  buried  the 


46  THE    WHALE   AND 

A  Voyage  Broken.  Difference  made  by  Christianity. 

dead,  dressed  the  wounded,  put  the  ship  in  or- 
der, and  made  sail  for  the  Christianized  Sand- 
wich Islands  with  the  surviving  crew.  With  a 
skill  and  self-possession  worthy  of  the  man  that 
could  accomplish  such  a  rescue,  and  with  a  fa- 
voring Providence,  he  navigated  the  bereaved 
whaler  to  Oahu,  where  the  survivors  were  hos- 
pitably entertained.  The  ship,  however,  had  to 
be  sent  home,  the  voyage  being  completely  bro- 
ken up  for  want  of  the  necessary  officers,  and 
thousands  of  dollars  lost  to  owners  and  under- 
writers. 

I  remember  once  to  have  listened  to  the  nar- 
rative of  a  captain  who  was  wrecked  in  the  Pa- 
cific on  a  sunken  rock,  and  for  fourteen  days  and 
nights  himself  and  crew,  twenty-two  in  number, 
were  exposed  in  their  boats,  and  had  quite  given 
up  hope  of  ever  again  reaching  the  land.  But 
on  the  morning  of  the  fifteenth  day  after  the 
loss  of  their  ship,  they  found  their  boats  nearing 
an  unknown  island.  They  were  almost  spent, 
and  saw  the  shore,  which  was  guarded  by  a  reef, 
lined  with  natives,  whether  cannibals  or  Chris- 
tianized they  could  not  tell. 

While  their  lives  were  in  doubt,  and  they 
were  questioning  whether  a  worse  death  by 


His   CAPTORS.  47 

Treatment  of  Mariners.  Reason  Why. 

savage  violence  did  not  await  them  than  if 
they  had  perished  at  sea,  one  of  the  natives 
came  out  toward  them  through  the  surf,  hold- 
ing in  his  hand  a  book,  and  cried,  with  a  loud 
voice,  "  Missionary !  missionary!"  An  answer- 
ing shout  of  recognition  and  beckoning  from  the 
poor  mariners  immediately  brought  the  natives, 
through  the  waves,  to  their  aid,  by  whom  they 
were  carried  on  shore  in  their  arms,  supplied 
with  food,  and  generously  entertained  with  more 
than  human,  with  Christian  kindness. 

It  so  happened,  according  to  the  captain's 
statement,  that  this  was  an  island  whose  in- 
habitants had  been  first  brought  to  the  knowl- 
edge of  Christianity  by  the  brother  of  this  cap- 
tain, who  had  been  some  years  before  cast  away 
on  this  very  island,  and,  with  one  other  of  the 
ship's  company,  was  saved.  They  were  taken 
by  the  natives  to  be  offered  up  as  a  sacrifice  to 
their  gods.  But  while  on  their  way  to  the  place 
where  human  victims  used  to  be  sacrificed, 
they  remembered  the  tradition  that  a  god  should 
come  to  them  from  the  sea. 

Overruled,  doubtless,  by  a  divine  impulse, 
they  now  entertained  the  white  man  as  a  god, 
and  he  instructed  them  concerning  the  only 


48  THE    WHALE   AND 

Power  of  the  Gospel.  The  Sailor's  Debt. 

true  God  and  Savior.  They  invited  the  mis- 
sionary from  another  island,  and  in  Heaven's 
blessing  upon  his  instructions  was  read  the  se- 
cret of  all  their  after-kindness  to  the  white  men 
who  visited  or  were  cast  upon  their  shores.  All 
whalemen  may  see  in  this  contrast,  as  we  have 
to  our  joy  in  the  Commodore  Preble,  what  a 
difference  there  is  between  islands  that  have, 
and  that  have  not  the  "  BOOK." 

It  is  THE  BOOK  which  has  brought  it  to  pass 
that  the  adventurous,  weary  whaleman  can 
now  traverse  the  entire  Pacific,  and  land  with 
impunity  at  most  of  its  lovely  islands,  and  be 
supplied  on  terms  of  equity  with  all  he  needs. 
Let,  then,  those  that  owe  to  it  the  most,  be 
loudest  in  their  praises,  and  warmest  in  their 
love,  and  most  careful  in  their  obedience  to  the 

BOOK    OF    BOOKS. 

It  was  the  reasoning  of  one  of  this  great  fam- 
ily of  South  Sea  Islanders  (with  whom  our  ship 
has  just  had  such  pleasant  intercourse),  soon 
after  he  came  into  possession  of  the  BIBLE  : 

When  I  look  at  myself,  I  find  that  I  have 
hinges  all  over  my  body.  I  have  got  hinges  to 
my  legs,  my  jaws,  my  feet,  my  hands.  If  I 
want  to  lay  hold  of  any  thing,  there  are  hinges 


His   CAPTORS.  49 

An  Islander's  Reasoning.  The  Great  Hinge  Maker. 

to  my  hands,  and  even  to  my  fingers,  to  do  it 
with.  If  my  heart  thinks,  and  I  want  to  make 
others  think  with  me,  I  use  the  hinges  to  my 
jaws,  and  they  help  me  to  talk.  I  could  nei- 
ther walk  nor  sit  down  if  I  had  not  hinges  to 
my  legs  and  feet.  All  this  is  wonderful.  None 
of  the  strange  things  that  men  have  brought 
from  England  in  their  big  ships  are  at  all  to  be 
compared  to  my  body.  He  who  made  my  body 
has  made  all  those  clever  people,  who  made  the 
strange  things  which  they  bring  in  the  ships; 
and  he  is  God,  whom  I  worship. 

But  I  should  not  know  much  more  about 
him  than  as  a  great  hinge-maker,  if  men  in 
their  ships  had  not  brought  the  book  which 
they  call  the  Bible.  That  tells  me  of  God,  who 
makes  the  skill  and  the  heart  of  man  likewise. 
And  when  I  hear  how  the  Bible  tells  of  the  old 
heart  with  its  corruption,  and  the  new  heart, 
and  a  right  spirit,  which  God  alone  can  create 
and  give,  I  feel  that  his  work  in  my  body  and 
his  work  in  my  heart  fit  each  other  exactly.  I 
am  sure,  .then,  that  the  Bible,  which  tells  me 
of  these  things,  was  made  by  him  who  made 
the  hinges  to  my  body.  I  believe  the  Bible  to 
be  the  word  of  God. 


50  THE   WHALE   AND 

Natural  Logic.  Tahitian  theology.  Its  Conclusion. 

The  men  on  the  other  side  of  the  great  sea 
used  their  skill  and  their  bodies  to  make  ships 
and  to  print  Bibles.  They  came  in  ships,  and 
brought  iron  hoops,  knives,  nails,  hatchets, 
cloth,  and  needles,  which  are  very  good.  They 
also  brought  rum  and  whisky,  which  are  very 
evil.  They  moved  the  hinges  of  the  jaws,  and 
told  lies  and  curses,  which  are  abominable.  At 
last  some  came  and  brought  the  Bible.  They 
used  the  hinges  of  their  bodies  to  turn  over  its 
leaves  and  to  explain  God's  blessed  word.  That 
was  better  than  iron- ware  and  stuff  for  cloth- 
ing. They  were  the  servants  of  the  living  God, 
and  my  heart  opened  to  their  words  as  if  it  had 
hinges  too,  like  as  my  mouth  opens  to  take  food 
when  I  am  hungry.  And  my  heart  feels  satis- 
fied now.  It  was  hungry,  God  nourished  it; 
it  was  thirsty,  God  has  refreshed  it.  Blessed 
be  God,  who  gave  his  word,  and  sent  it  across 
the  sea  to  bring  me  light  and  salvation ! 

Now  we  say  that  this  unsophisticated  native 
thinker,  working  thus  all  by  himself  at  the 
great  theological  argument  from  evidences  of 
design,  could  hardly  have  done  better  had  he 
been  going  to  school  to  Calvin  or  Chalmers  all 
his  days.  He  might  have  written  in  his  Poly- 


His   CAPTORS.  51 

The  two  Bibles.  Verse  from  Byron's. 

nesian  Bible  the  lines  which  are  said  to  have 
been  found  on  the  blank  leaf  of  a  copy  of  the 
Scriptures  belonging  to  a  great  English  poet. 
And,  ah !  how  much  better  had  it  been  for  the 
world  if  Byron  had  loved  his  Bible  as  there  is 
reason  to  believe  the  unknown  Tahitian  did  his. 

Within  this  awful  volume  lies 
The  mystery  of  mysteries : 
And  bless'd,  forever  bless'd  are  they 
Who  read  to  hope,  and  read  to  pray. 
But  better  had  he  ne'er  been  born, 
Who  reads  to  pray,  or  reads  to  scorn. 


52  THE   WHALE   AND 

There  she  Blows.  Where  Away  ? 


CHAPTER  III. 

RAISING    AND    CUTTING-IN    WHALES. 

Here  leviathan, 

Hugest  of  living  creatures,  on  the  deep 
Stretch'd  like  a  promontory,  sleeps  or  swims, 
And  seems  a  moving  land ;  and  at  his  gills 
Draws  in,  and  at  his  trunk  spouts  out,  a  sea. — MILTON. 

the  first  time  in  our  now  ten  weeks' 
passage  from  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  on  this 
New  Zealand  Cruising  Ground,  we  heard,  day 
before  yesterday,  that  life-kindling  sound  to  a 
weary  whaleman,  THERE  SHE  BLOWS  !  The 
usual  questions  and  orders  from  the  deck  quick- 
ly followed.  "Where  away?"  "Two  points 
on  the  weather  bow !"  "  How  far  off?"  "  A 
mile  and  a  half!"  "Keep  your  eye  on  her!" 
"  Sing  out  when  we  head  right !"  It  turned 
out  that  three  whales  were  descried  from  aloft 
in  different  parts,  and  in  a  short  time,  when  we 
were  deemed  near  enough,  the  captain  gave  or- 
ders to  "  Stand  by  and  lower"  for  one  a  little 
more  than  half  a  mile  to  windward. 


His   CAPTORS.  53 

Boats  in  Chase.  Oars  A-peak.  One  Boat  Fast. 

Three  boats'  crews  pulled  merrily  away,  glad 
of  something  to  stir  their  blood,  and  with  eager 
hope  to  obtain  the  oily  material  wherewith  to 
fill  their  ship  and  make  good  their  "  lay."  The 
whale  was  going  leisurely  to  windward,  blow- 
ing every  now  and  again  two  or  three  times, 
then  "  turning  tail,"  "  up  flukes,"  and  sinking. 
The  boats  "headed"  after  him,  keeping  a  dis- 
tance of  nearly  one  quarter  of  a  mile  from  each 
other,  to  scatter  (as  it  is  called)  their  chances. 

Fortunately,  as  the  oarsmen  were  "hove  up," 
that  is,  had  their  oars  a-peak,  about  the  place 
where  they  expected  the  whale  would  next  ap- 
pear, the  huge  creature  rose  hard  by  the  cap- 
tain's boat,  and  all  the  harpooner  in  the  bow  had 
to  do  was  to  plunge  his  two  keen  cold  irons, 
which  are  always  secured  to  one  tow-line,  into 
the  monster's  blubber-sides.  This  he  did  so 
well  as  to  hit  the  "  fish's  life"  at  once,  and  make 
him  spout  blood  forthwith.  It  was  the  first  no- 
tice the  poor  fellow  had  of  the  proximity  of  his 
powerful  captors,  and  the  sudden  piercing  of  the 
barbed  harpoons  to  his  very  vitals  made  him  ca- 
per and  run  most  furiously. 

The  boat  spun  after  him  with  almost  the 
swiftness  of  a  top,  now  diving  through  the  seas 


54  THEWHALEAND 

The  Lance.  The  Flurry.  The  Prize. 

and  tossing  the  spray,  and  then  lying  still  while 
the  whale  sounded  ;  anon  in  swift  motion  again 
when  the  game  rose,  for  the  space  of  an  hour. 
During  this  time  another  boat  "  got  fast"  to  him 
with  its  harpoons,  and  the  captain's  cruel  lance 
had  several  times  struck  his  vitals.  He  was 
killed,  as  whalemen  call  it,  that  is,  mortally 
wounded,  an  hour  before  he  went  into  "  his  flur- 
ry," and  was  really  dead  or  turned  up  on  his  back. 
The  loose  boat  then  came  to  the  ship  for  a 
hawser  to  fasten  round  his  flukes ;  which  being 
done,  the  captain  left  his  irons  in  the  carcass 
and  pulled  for  the  ship,  in  order  to  beat  to  wind- 
ward, and,  after  getting  alongside,  to  "  cut  him 
in."  This  done,  and  the  mammoth  carcass  se- 
cured to  the  ship  by  a  chain  round  the  bitts, 
they  proceeded  to  reeve  the  huge  blocks  that  are 
always  made  fast  for  the  purpose  to  the  fore  and 
main  mast  head,  and  to  fasten  the  cutting-in 
tackle.  The  captain  and  two  mates  then  went 
over  the  sides  on  steps  well  secured,  and  having 
each  a  breast-rope  to  steady  them  and  lean  upon. 
The  cooper  then  passed  them  the  long-handled 
spades,  which  he  was  all  the  time  grinding  and 
whetting,  and  they  fell  lustily  to  work  chopping 
off  the  blubber. 


/ 


His   CAPTORS.  57 

The  Lip.  The  Fin.  The  Bonnet. 

First  came  one  of  the  huge  lips,  which,  after 
they  had  nearly  severed  close  to  the  creature's 
eye,  was  hooked  into  by  what  they  call  a  blubber 
hook,  stripped  off,  and  hoisted  on  board  by  the 
windlass.  It  was  very  compact  and  dense,  and 
covered  with  barnacles  like  Brobdignag  lice. 

Next  came  one  of  the  fore-fins ;  after  that 
the  other  lip,  and  then  the  upper  jaw  along  with 
all  that  peculiar  substance  called  whalebone, 
through  which  the  animal  strains  his  food.  It 
is  all  fringed  with  coarse  hair  that  detains  the 
little  shrimps  and  small  fry  on  which  the  crea- 
ture feeds.  The  bones,  or,  rather,  slabs  of  whale- 
bone radiate  in  leaves  that  lie  edgewise  to  the 
mouth,  from  each  side  of  what  may  be  called  the 
ridge-pole  of  the  mouth's  roof,  forming  a  house 
almost  big  enough  for  a  man  to  stand  up  in.  Out- 
side it  is  crowned  with  what  they  call  a  bonnet, 
being  a  crest  or  comb  where  there  burrow  le- 
gions of  barnacles  and  crabs  like  rabbits  in  a  war- 
ren, or  insects  in  the  shaggy  bark  of  an  old  tree. 

Next  came  the  lower  jaw  and  throat,  to- 
gether with  the  tongue,  which  latter  alone  must 
have  weighed  fifteen  hundred  or  two  thousand 
pounds ;  an  enormous  mass  of  fat,  not,  however, 
so  firm  and  tough  as  the  blubber.  Whalers 


53  THE   WHALE   AND 

The  Tongue.  The  Flensing.  The  Blubber-room. 

often  have  to  lose  it,  especially  from  the  north- 
west whale,  it  being  impossible  to  get  it  up  on 
deck  detached  and  alone,  because  it  would  not 
hold,  and  it  is  generally  too  large  and  heavy  to 
raise  along  with  the  throat. 

After  this  was  hoisted  in,  the  rest  of  the  way 
was  plane  sailing,  the  blubber  of  the  body  being 
cut  and  peeled  off,  in  huge  unbroken  strips,  as 
the  carcass  rolled  over  and  over,  being  heaved 
on  by  the  windlass,  then  hooked  into  by  the 
blubber  hooks,  and  hoisted  in  by  the  men  all 
the  time  heaving  at  the  windlass. 

As  often  as  a  piece,  nearly  reaching  to  the 
top  of  the  main  mast,  was  got  over  the  deck, 
they  would  attack  it  with  great  boarding-knives, 
and  cutting  a  hole  in  it  at  a  place  nearly  even 
with  the  deck,  thrust  in  the  strap  and  toggel  of 
the  "  cutting  blocks,"  that  they  might  still  have 
a  purchase  on  the  carcass  below.  Then  they 
would  sever  the  huge  piece  from  the  rest,  and 
lower  it  down  into  "  the  blubber-room"  between 
decks,  where  two  men  had  as  much  as  they 
could  do  to  cut  it  into  six  or  eight  pound  pieces 
and  stow  it  away.  It  was  from  nine  to  eleven 
inches  thick,  and  looked  like  very  large  fat  pork 
slightly  colored  with  salt-petre. 


His   CAPTORS.  59 

Albatrosses.  Blubber-birds.  Sharks. 

The  magnificent,  swan-like  albatrosses  were 
round  us  by  hundreds,  eagerly  seizing  and  fight- 
ing for  every  bit  and  fragment  that  fell  off  into 
the  water,  swallowing  it  with  the  most  carniv- 
orous avidity,  and  a  low,  avaricious  greed  of  de- 
light, that  detracted  considerably  from  one's  ad- 
miration of  this  most  superb  of  birds,  just  as 
your  veneration  for  one  whom  the  coloring  of  a 
youthful  imagination  has  made  a  little  more 
than  human,  is  not  a  little  abated  by  finding 
him  subject  to  the  necessities  and  passions  of 
poor  human  nature.  Gonies,  stinkards,  horse- 
birds,  haglets,  gulls,  pigeons,  and  petrels,  had 
all  many  a  good  morsel  of  blubber.  For  at  any 
time  in  these  seas,  though  eight  hundred  or  a 
thousand  miles  from  shore,  the  capture  of  a 
whale  will  allure  thousands  of  sea-birds  from 
far  and  near.  Sharks,  too,  appeared  to  claim 
their  share ;  but  it  was  not  until  after  a  man 
had  been  down  twice  on  the  wave- washed  car- 
cass, to  get  a  rope  fast  to  a  hole  in  the  whale's 
head,  or  I  should  have  trembled  for  his  legs. 

Before  the  blubber  was  all  off,  the  huge  en- 
trails of  the  whale  burst  out  like  barrels,  at  the 
wounds  made  by  the  spades  and  lances.  I 
hoped  the  peeled  carcass  would  float  for  the 


60  THE   WHALE   AND 

Friendly  Congratulations.  Trying  out. 

benefit  of  the  gonies  and  other  birds.  But  no 
sooner  was  the  last  fold  of  blubber  off,  the  flukes 
hoisted  in,  and  the  great  chain  detached,  than  it 
sank  plumb  down.  About  the  same  time  two 
ships  bore  down  to  speak  us,  the  Henry  of  Sag 
Harbor,  and  the  Lowell  of  New  London.  Their 
captains  came  on  board  to  congratulate  us  on 
our  success,  and  "  learn  the  news."  They  had 
just  arrived  on  the  ground,  and  had  not  yet 
taken  any  whales. 

Soon  after  we  had  finished  cutting  in,  about 
eight  o'clock  in  the  evening,  the  wind  increased 
almost  to  a  gale,  making  it  impossible  to  try  out 
that  night.  But  to-day,  while  the  ship  is  lying 
to,  the  business  has  begun  in  good  earnest; 
the  blubber-men  cutting  up  in  the  blubber- 
room  ;  others  pitching  it  on  deck ;  others  fork- 
ing it  over  to  the  side  of  the  "  try- works  ;"  two 
men  standing  by  a  "horse"  with  a  mincing 
knife  to  cleave  the  pieces  into  many  parts  for 
the  more  easy  trying  out,  as  the  rind  of  a  joint 
of  pork  is  cut  by  the  cook  for  roasting :  the  boat- 
steerers  and  one  of  the  mates  are  pitching  it  into 
the  kettles,  feeding  the  fires  with  the  scraps,  and 
bailing  the  boiling  fluid  into  copper  tanks,  from 
which  it  is  the  duty  of  another  to  dip  into  casks. 


WHALING  IMPLEMENTS.. 


Hand  Harpoon.  2.  Pricker. 

4.  Gun  Harpoon. 


3.  Blubber  Spade. 
5.  Lance. 


His   CAPTORS.  63 

A  Whale-ship  in  its  Glory.  Present  yield  of  Oil. 

The  decks  present  that  lively,  though  dirty 
spectacle  which  whalemen  love,  their  faces  all 
begrimed  and  sooty,  and  smeared  with  oil,  so 
that  you  can  not  tell  if  they  be  black  or  white. 
A  farmer's  golden  harvest  in  autumn  is  not  a 
pleasanter  sight  to  him,  than  it  is  to  a  whaler 
to  have  his  decks  and  blubber-room  "  blubber- 
log,"  the  try- works  a-blazing,  cooper  a-pound- 
ing,  oil  a-flowing,  every  body  busy  and  dirty 
night  and  day.  Donkey-loads  of  Chilian  or  Pe- 
ruvian gold,  filing  into  the  custom-house  at 
Valparaiso  and  Lima,  or  a  stream  of  Benton's 
yellow-boys  flowing  up  the  Mississippi,  or  bags 
of  the  Californian  dust  riding  into  San  Fran- 
cisco, have  no  such  charms  for  him  as  cutting- 
in  a  hundred-barrel  whale  and  turning  out  oil 
by  the  hogshead. 

The  whale  now  taken  proves  to  be  a  cow 
whale,  forty-five  feet  long  and  twenty-five  round, 
and  it  will  yield  between  seventy  and  eighty 
barrels  of  right  whale  oil.  This  is  about  the 
ordinary  size  of  the  New  Zealand  whale,  a  mere 
dwarf  in  comparison  with  that  of  the  northwest, 
which  sometimes  yields,  it  is  said,  three  hundred 
barrels,  ordinarily  one  hundred  and  fifty,  or  one 
hundred  and  eighty. 


64  THE   WHALE   AND 

The  Whale  in  Prose.  The  Whale  in  Poetry. 

Though  so  huge  a  creature,  a  very  small  part 
of  its  bulk  appears  out  of  water,  and  that  bend- 
ing with  the  undulations  of  the  waves ;  nor  do 
you  have  so  fair  a  view  of  this  immense  mass 
of  organized  matter,  as  of  a  ship  afloat  in  com- 
parison to  one  on  the  stocks.  To  have  a  just 
idea  of  its  greatness,  it  should  be  seen  on  dry 
land.  As  is  usually  the  case,  the  observed  re- 
ality of  this  mammoth  animal,  prodigious  as  it 
is,  hardly  comes  up  to  the  preconceived  vague 
idea  of  it,  still  less  to  the  poetic  notion  of 

That  sea-beast 

Leviathan,  which  God  of  all  his  works 
Created  hugest,  that  swim  the  ocean  stream. 
Him  haply  slumbering  on  the  Norway  foam, 
The  pilot  of  some  small  night-foundered  skiff, 
Deeming  some  island,  oft,  as  seamen  tell, 
With  fixed  anchor  in  his  scaly  rind, 
Moors  by  his  side  under  the  lee,  while  night 
.  Invests  the  sea  and  wished  morn  delays. 

They  used  to  tell  some  big  "  fish  stories"  in 
Milton's  day,  and  I  have  no  doubt  they  had 
something  to  do  in  his  mind  with  the  creation 
of  »that  image  of  Satan  on  the  burning  lake. 

With  head  uplift  above  the  wave,  and  eyes 
That  sparkling  blazed ;  his  other  parts  beside, 
Prone  on  the  flood,  extended  long  and  large, 
Lay  floating  many  a  rood ;  in  bulk  as  huge 
As  whom  the  fables  name  of  monstrous  size, 
Titanian.  or  earth-born,  that  warred  on  Jove  : 


His   CAPTORS.  65 

Imagery  of  Milton.  Whence  Derived. 

Forthwith  upright  he  rears  from  off  the  pool 

His  mighty  stature :  on  each  hand  the  flames, 

Driven  backward,  slope  their  pointing  spires,  and  rolled 

In  billows,  leave  in  the  midst  a  horrid  vale. 

Then,  with  expanded  wings,  he  takes  his  flight 

Aloft  incumbent  on  the  dusky  air, 

That  felt  unusual  weight. 

E 


66  THE   WHALE   AND 

Physiology  of  the  Right  Whale.  Not  a  Fish. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

NEW    ZEALAND    CRUISING    GROUND. 

Oh,  the  whale  is  free,  of  the  boundless  sea ; 

He  lives  for  a  thousand  years ; 
He  sinks  to  rest  on  the  billow's  breast, 

Nor  the  roughest  tempest  fears. 
The  howling  blast,  as  it  rushes  past, 

Is  music  to  lull  him  to  sleep  : 
And  he  scatters  the  spray  in  his  boisterous  play, 

As  he  dashes— the  King  of  the  deep.— Sea  Song. 

f¥lHE  recent  capture  of  one  right  whale,  get- 
-*•  ting  fast  to  another,  and  pursuit  of  several 
more,  and  the  sight  of  them  blowing  all  around, 
close  at  hand  and  at  a  distance,  naturally  puts 
one  upon  inquiring  into  the  habits  and  resorts 
of  this  great  sea-monster.  It  is  of  the  class 
mammalia,  order  cetacea,  warm-blooded,  bring- 
ing forth  its  young  alive,  generally  one  at  a 
time,  and  giving  them  suck.  It  is  not,  there- 
fore, a  fish,  is  without  scales,  breathes  the  air 
through  enormous  lungs,  not  gills,  and  respires 
by  what  is  called  its  spout  or  blow-holes,  a  kind 
of  nostrils,  or,  in  other  words,  two  apertures 


His   CAPTORS.  67 

Points  of  Difference  between  the  Right  and  Sperm  Whale. 

situated  on  the  after  part  of  its  head  and  neck, 
through  which  is  forcibly  expelled  all  the  water 
taken  into  the  mouth  in  the  act  of  feeding  and 
breathing,  and  all  the  warm  air  and  vapor  of 
the  lungs. 

The  form  of  the  spout  serves  to  distinguish 
at  a  distance  the  kind  of  whale,  whether  right 
whale  (Balsena  mysticetus)  or  sperm  (makro- 
cephalus).  The  right  whale,  having  two  large 
orifices  on  the  top  of  the  back  part  of  its  head  as 
it  lies  along  in  the  water,  the  spout  of  vapor  and 
water  ejected  is  forced  up  perpendicularly  till 
its  power  is  spent,  and  it  begins  to  fall  over  on 
both  sides,  looking  then,  at  a  distance,  in  shape 
like  a  Gothic  elm  parted  into  two  branches. 
This  can  be  easily  perceived  when  the  whale  is 
either  coming  directly  toward  or  going  directly 
off  from  the  ship,  the  jets  d'eau  being  some- 
times thirty  or  even  fifty  feet  high.  The  sperm 
whale,  on  the  other  hand,  has  but  one  blow- 
hole, and  that  a  little  on  one  side  or  corner  of 
its  head,  from  which  the  ejected  stream  of  breath 
issues  a  little  obliquely,  and  not  straight  up, 
as  in  the  right  whale.  Being  only  the  confined 
air  of  the  lungs,  and  condensed  into  a  white  mist, 
it  vanishes  instantly. 


THE   WHALE   AND 


Propellers  and  Instruments  of  Defense.  Measui'emeuts. 

Its  propellers  and  means  of  defense  are  two 
fins,  planted  a  little  behind  the  head  on  each 
side,  and  the  flukes  of  its  tail,  also,  with  which 
it  sculls  and  attempts  to  strike  its  enemy.  The 
juncture  of  these  flukes  with  the  main  body  of 
the  whale  is  comparatively  small,  and  a  skillful 
whaler  always  tries  to  cut  the  tendons,  like  a 
hamstring,  with  his  spade  when  the  whale  is 
violent.  If  successful  in  this,  the  flukes  will  be 
still,  and  the  danger  of  approaching  the  whale 
greatly  diminished.  The  natural  working  of 
them  on  their  joints  by  the  waves,  after  the 
animal  is  dead,  will  always  carry  the  carcass 
directly  to  windward. 

Of  one  that  I  have  measured,  the  fins  were 
five  feet  long  each,  and  the  flukes  twelve  feet 
across,  horizontally.  Of  another  the  body  was 
thirty-nine  feet  long  and  nineteen  feet  round, 
the  head  seven  feet  from  its  tip  to  the  spout 
holes,  three  feet  wide  just  behind  the  same,  and 
three  feet  from  the  upper  outside  superficies  to 
the  roof  of  the  mouth  inside,  making  its  entire 
head,  with  the  mouth  closed,  seven  feet  in  diam- 
eter, or  twenty-one  feet  round.  The  length  of 
another,  which  I  have  exactly  measured,  a  sperm 
whale,  was  fifty-nine  feet,  and  thirty  round. 


His   CAPTORS.  69 

The  Ear.  The  Eye.  The  Lips.  The  Food. 

The  ear  of  the  whale  is  extremely  small,  and 
so  hidden,  like  a  mole's,  that  you  would  not 
find  it  without  diligent  search.  Still  the  crea- 
ture is  thought  by  seamen  to  be  quick  of  hear- 
ing as  well  as  sharp  of  sight.  The  organ  for 
the  latter  sense  is  about  as  large  as  the  eye  of 
an  ox.  The  head  of  a  right  whale,  when  his 
mouth  is  open  in  feeding,  or  when  he  breaches, 
as  I  have  sometimes  seen  him  do  quite  out  of 
water,  is  a  most  uncouth  and  formidable  sight. 
It  looks  at  a  little  distance  like  the  black,  rug- 
ged mouth  of  one  of  those  lava  caverns  a  trav- 
eler meets  with  on  the  Island  of  Hawaii.  The 
huge  lips  close  from  below  upward,  and  shut  in, 
when  the  monster  has  got  a  mouthful,  upon  his 
immense  whalebone  cheeks,  like  the  great  valve 
of  a  mammoth  bellows,  or  the  water  gates  of  a 
canal  lock. 

The  sole  living  of  this  vast  animal  is  thought 
to  be  upon  a  substance  which  I  hear  univers- 
ally called  by  whalemen  "  right  whale  feed" 
(medusae).  It  appears  in  the  water  like  little 
red  seeds  of  the  size  of  mustard,  which  is  in- 
trapped  by  the  hair  that  fringes  the  leaves  of 
whalebone,  as  the  whale  swims  along  with 
mouth  open.  It  is,  in  fact,  a  little  red  shrimp, 


70  THE    WHALE   AND 

Bunyan  and  the  Whale.  Economy  of  Providence. 

sometimes  seen  floating  on  the  surface  in  these 
seas  alive,  oftener  dead,  when  it  has  the  appear- 
ance at  a  distance  of  clots  of  blood,  only  yellower. 
I  have  seen  it  in  both  states,  and  as  entangled 
in  the  hair  of  dead  whales.  The  quantity  nec- 
essary for  the  animal's  support  must  be  prodig- 
ious. 

I  can  doubly  appreciate  now  that  amusing 
passage  in  the  Holy  War,  where  Bunyan  says, 
"  Silly  Mansoul  did  not  stick  nor  boggle  at  a 
monstrous  oath  that  she  would  not  desert  Dia- 
bolus,  but  swallowed  it  without  chewing,  as  if 
it  had  been  a  sprat  in  the  mouth  of  a  whale" 
This  feed  is  supposed  to  lie  generally  rather 
deep  under  water  in  these  seas,  as  whales  are 
often  taken  in  greatest  numbers  where  none  of 
it  is  to  be  seen  on  the  surface.  In  the  Green- 
land and  Arctic  Seas  it  often  covers  miles  and 
miles  in  extent,  thick  enough,  it  is  said,  to  im- 
pede the  course  of  a  ship ;  and  perhaps,  in  the 
economy  of  Providence,  whales  as  well  as  sharks 
are  but  the  scavengers  of  the  great  deep,  to  con- 
sume what  would  otherwise  putrefy  and  decay. 

A  volume  of  the  Family  Library,  on  "  Polar 
Seas  and  Regions,"  which  I  have  been  reading 
with  great  interest  on  shipboard,  says,  that  the 


H I  S     C  A  P  T  O  R  S.  71 

Greenland  Mendusse.  Scoresby's  Arithmetic. 

basis  of  subsistence  for  the  numerous  tribes  of 
the  Arctic  world  is  found  in  the  genus  medusa, 
which  the  sailors  graphically  describe  as  sea- 
blubber.  The  medusa  is  a  soft,  elastic,  gelat- 
inous substance,  specimens  of  which  may  be 
seen  lying  on  our  own  shores,  exhibiting  no  signs 
of  life,  except  that  of  shrinking  when  touched. 
Beyond  the  Arctic  Circle  it  increases  in  an  ex- 
traordinary degree,  and  is  eagerly  devoured  by 
the  finny  tribes  of  all  shapes  and  sizes.  By  far 
the  most  numerous,  however,  of  the  medusan 
races  are  of  dimensions  too  small  to  be  discov- 
ered without  the  aid  of  the  microscope,  the  ap- 
plication of  which  instrument  shows  them  to  be 
the  cause  of  a  peculiar  color,  which  tinges  a 
great  extent  of  the  Greenland  Sea.  This  color 
is  olive-green,  and  the  water  is  opaque  com- 
pared to  that  which  bears  the  common  cerulean 
hue. 

"  These  olive  waters  occupy  about  a  fourth  of 
the  Greenland  Sea,  or  above  twenty  thousand 
square  miles,  and  hence  the  number  of  medusan 
animalcula  which  they  contain  is  far  beyond 
calculation.  Mr.  Scoresby  estimates  that  two 
square  miles  contain  23,888,000,000,000,000 ; 
and  as  this  number  is  beyond  the  range  of  hu- 


72  THE   WHALE   AND 

Polar  Pastures.  Crabs.  Shrimps.  Dissectors. 

man  words  and  conceptions,  he  illustrates  it  by 
observing,  that  eighty  thousand  persons  would 
have  been  employed  since  the  creation  in  count- 
ing it.  This  green  sea  may  be  considered  as 
the  Polar  pasture  ground,  where  whales  are  al- 
ways seen  in  greatest  numbers.  These  prodig- 
ious animals  can  not  derive  any  direct  subsist- 
ence from  such  small  invisible  particles ;  but 
these  form  the  food  of  other  minute  creatures, 
which  then  support  others,  till  at  length  ani- 
mals are  produced  of  such  size  as  to  afford  a 
morsel  for  their  mighty  devourers. 

"  The  genus  cancer,  larger  in  size  than  the 
medusa,  appears  to  rank  second  in  number  and 
importance.  It  presents  itself  under  the  vari- 
ous species  of  the  crab,  and,  above  all,  of  the 
shrimp,  whose  multitudes  rival  those  of  the  me- 
dusa, and  which  in  all  quarters  feed  and  are  fed 
upon.  So  carnivorous  are  the  propensities  of 
the  northern  shrimps,  that  joints  of  meat  hung 
out  by  Captain  Parry's  crew  from  the  sides  of 
the  ship  were  in  a  few  nights  picked  to  the 
very  bone,  and  nothing  could  be  placed  within 
their  reach  except  bodies  of  which  it  was  de- 
sired to  obtain  the  skeleton.  Many  of  the  zoo- 
phytical  and  molluscous  orders,  particularly  Ac- 


His   CAPTORS.  73 

Novel  Clinque.  Relative  Anatomy. 

tinia  sepia,  and  several  species  of  marine 
worms,  are  also  employed  in  devouring  and  af- 
fording food  to  various  other  animals." 

We  learn,  then,  that  the  law  of  mutual  con- 
sumption holds  throughout  the  wide  domain  of 
the  deep.  And  Byron  was  literally  correct 
when  saying,  in  his  apostrophe  to  the  Ocean, 

Even  from  out  thy  slime 
T/ie  monsters  of  the  deep  are  made. 

The  internal  anatomy  of  a  whale  is  to  me  a 
subject  of  great  curiosity,  and  I  wish  it  were 
in  my  power  to  report  a  full  and  accurate,  leis- 
urely post-mortem  of  the  subjects  we  have  dis- 
cussed. But  a  few  clinical  notes,  roughly  taken 
by  the  bed-side,  as  the  whalemen  have  been 
operating  between  wind  and  water  with  their 
professional  spades  and  lances  of  dissection,  are 
all  I  have  to  exhibit.  From  the  barrel-like  size 
of  the  protruding  intestine  of  the  last  we  have 
dissected,  or  more  properly  peeled,  it  is  reason- 
able to  infer  by  the  law  of  relative  proportions 
on  which  Agassiz  constructs  a  fish  from  a  sin- 
gle scale,  that  the  great  aorta  of  one  of  the 
largest  kind  of  whales  can  be  but  little  less  in 
diameter  than  the  bore  of  the  main  pipe  of  the 
Croton  water-works  ;  and  the  water  roaring  in 


' 


74  THE   WHALE   AND 

Arterial  Circulation.  Wise  Provision  of  the  Creator. 

its  passage  through  that  pipe  must  be  inferior 
in  impetus  and  velocity  to  the  blood  gushing 
from  the  whale's  great  heart,  when  his  pulse 
beats  high  in  the  conflict  with  his  captors. 

In  Dr.  Hunter's  account  to  the  Philosophical 
Society  of  the  dissection  of  a  small  whale  cast 
upon  the  coast  of  Yorkshire,  this  aorta  meas- 
ured a  foot  in  diameter.  In  that  case,  fifteen 
or  twenty  gallons  of  living  blood  are  ordinarily 
thrown  out  of  the  heart  of  a  large  whale  at  a 
stroke,  with  an  immense  velocity,  through  the 
great  bore  of  a  blood-vessel,  or  rather  blood 
aqueduct,  a  foot  or  two  in  diameter. 

How  it  is,  then,  that,  with  such  a  prodigious 
current  of  blood  constantly  flowing  and  needing, 
oxygenization  by  the  air,  the  whale  can  remain 
under  water  so  long,  respiration  suspended 
(sometimes,  in  the  case  of  a  sperm  whale,  an 
hour  and  a  half),  it  was  difficult  to  conceive,  un- 
til dissection  discovered  that  in  the  cetaceous 
animals,  the  arterial  blood,  instead  of  passing 
into  the  venous  circulation,  the  ordinary  way, 
has  interposed,  by  the  Creator's  providence,  a 
structure  which  is  nothing  less  than  a  grand 
reservoir  for  the  reception  of  a  great  quantity 
of  arterial  blood,  which,  as  occasion  requires,  is 


His   CAPTORS.  75 

A  natural  Suggestion.  Exterminating  Wai-fare. 

emptied  into  the  general  circulation,  and  thus 
for  a  time  supersedes  the  necessity  of  respira- 
tion. It  may  be  that  the  accidental  piercing, 
now  and  then,  of  the  walls  of  this  great  pen- 
stock of  arterial  blood,  by  the  harpoon  or  lance, 
has  something  to  do  with  the  whale's  occasional 
sinking  after  being  killed,  a  phenomenon  not 
yet  satisfactorily  explained. 

Until  within  a  few  years  this  gigantic  game 
has  been  every  where  so  abundant  that  whale- 
men have  used  no  means  to  keep  their  rich 
prizes  from  sinking;  but  when  one  has  gone 
down  worth  $1500  or  $2000,  or  even  $3000,  they 
have  taken  it  as  a  whaleman's  fortune,  and 
have  gone  to  capturing  others  instead.  In  some 
voyages  they  say  more  whales  have  been  sunk 
than  have  been  saved.  The  useless  devasta- 
tion thus  caused  among  these  huge  denizens  of 
the  deep  has  been  very  great.  One  practical 
whaleman  calculates  the  number  of  whales  kill- 
ed in  one  season  on  the  northwest  coast  and 
Kamtsohatka  at  12,000. 

Would  whalemen  go  provided  with  India- 
rubber  or  bladder  buoys,  ready  to  be  bent  on  to 
harpoons  and  darted  into  a  whale's  carcass  as 
soon  as  "  turned  up,"  or  when  he  is  perceived 


76  THE   WHALE   AND 

Expedients  of  the  Indian  Whalemen  of  Oregon  and  Cape  Cod. 

to  be  going  into  "  his  flurry,"  we  are  persuaded 
that  many  thousands  of  barrels  of  oil  might  be 
saved,  and  not  a  few  poor  voyages  would  be 
made  good  ones.  According  to  Commander 
Wilkes's  Narrative  of  the  United  States  Explor- 
ing Squadron,  the  Indians  of  the  northwest 
coast  take  quite  a  number  of  whales  annually, 
by  having  their  rude  fish  spears  fastened  to  in- 
flated seal-skin  floats,  four  feet  long  and  one 
and  a  half  or  two  feet  broad,  that  keep  the 
whale  on  the  top  of  the  water,  and  allow  him  to 
fall  a  comparatively  easy  prey.  The  same  thing 
used  to  be  effected  by  the  Indians  of  Cape  Cod, 
having  their  fish  spears  fastened  to  blocks  of 
wood,  in  lieu  of  which  sperm  whalemen  now 
use  what  is  called  a  "  drag."  Now  that  whales 
are  getting  scarce,  we  think  it  impossible  but 
that  Yankee  sense  and  forehandedness  wrill  soon 
see  to  this,  and  go  prepared  against  such  dis- 
heartening catastrophes  as  losing  their  game 
by  its  sinking,  after  unsurpassed  skill  and  dar- 
ing have  made  it  fairly  their  owrn. 

If  owners  knew  how  much  might  be  saved 
by  it,  they  would  never  let  a  ship  go  from  port 
without  buoys  to  hold  up  dead  whales,  and  long 
hawsers  to  lay-to  with  by  them  in  gales  of  wind. 


His   CAPTORS.  77 

Losses  by  Sinking.  Means  of  Prevention. 

The  Commodore  Preble  has  lost,  in  the  course 
of  this  voyage,  seven  by  sinking  after  they  were 
"  turned  up,"  and  three  from  alongside  in  rug- 
ged weather,  because  without  a  long  and  strong 
hawser  to  secure  them  by  to  windward  while 
lying-to.  Six  of  our  boats  were  stove  in  one 
season  on  the  northwest  coast,  some  of  the  crew 
were  badly  hurt,  and  the  men  got  so  afraid  of 
a  whale,  that  some  of  them  would  hide  away 
when  the  order  was  given  to  lower. 

The  only  cause  I  have  ever  heard  assigned 
for  the  right  whale's  sinking  so  often,  is  having 
the  air-vessel  which  Nature  is  thought  to  pro- 
vide this  animal  with,  pierced  by  the  lance  or 
harpoon.  Any  one  can  see  that  a  few  buoys 
fastened  to  them  would  counterweigh  this  tend- 
ency to  sink.  I  have  even  heard  of  their  being 
hauled  up  when  out  of  sight  by  four  boat's  crews 
pulling  upon  the  tow-lines  that  were  fast  to  the 
harpoons  buried  in  the  sinking  carcass. 

Till  we  know  more  of  the  natural  history  of 
the  whale  than  we  yet  do,  its  sinking  so  ap- 
parently without  law  can  not  be  certainly  ac- 
counted for.  One  whaleman  says  that  he  has 
known  a  whale  of  the  largest  size,  which,  in 
cutting  him  in,  proved  to  be  a  dry-skin,  that  is, 


78  THE     WHALE     AND 

A  Frenchman's  Ingenuity  and  End.  Hint  to  Legislators. 

the  blubber  containing  a  milky  fluid  instead  of 
oil,  and  yet  the  whale  floated  as  light  as  a  cork. 
Again,  he  has  killed  a  whale  with  a  single  lance, 
and  he  sunk  like  a  stone,  and  another  has  sunk 
after  lancing  a  hundred  times. 

An  ingenious  Frenchman,  I  am  told,  in  these 
seas,  once  rigged  swivels  in  the  heads  of  his 
boats,  and  had  bladders  and  other  gear  to  float 
dead  whales ;  but  he  succeeded  with  it  all  so 
poorly,  that,  in  mortification  and  despair,  when 
he  put  into  one  of  the  ports  of  New  Zealand,  he 
went  out  into  the  woods  and  shot  himself  with 
a  brace  of  pistols  through  both  his  eyes.  I 
think  some  quick-witted  Yankee  would  do  bet- 
ter to  give  his  attention  to  experimenting  in 
this  line;  and,  even  if  the  whales  would  not 
be  killed  or  floated,  he  would  not  be  such  a  fool 
as  to  blow  his  own  brains  out.  It  is  a  true 
saying  of  Massinger : 

Who  kills  himself  t'  avoid  misery,  fears  it, 
And  at  the  best  shows  a  bastard  valor  ; 

which,  forasmuch  as  the  crime  is  becoming 
popular  nowadays,  it  would  not  be  amiss  to 
put  a  stop  to,  by  enacting  a  law,  as  they  once 
did  in  ancient  Rome,  to  expose  the  body  of  eve- 
ry suicide  naked  in  the  market-place  after  death. 


His   CAPTORS.  79 

Notes  in  Physiology.  The  Right  Whale's  Head. 


CHAPTER  V. 


Spout !  spout !  spout ! 
The  waves  are  purling  all  about, 
Every  billow  on  its  head 
Strangely  wears  a  crest  of  red. 
See  her  lash  the  foaming  main 
In  her  flurry  and  her  pain. 

Take  good  heed,  my  hearts  of  oak, 
Lest  her  flukes,  as  she  lies, 
Swiftly  hurl  you  to  the  sMes. 

But  lo !  her  giant  strength  is  broke. 
Slow  she  turns,  as  a  mass  of  lead ; 
The  mighty  mountain  whale  is  dead. —  Whaler's  Song. 

FJIHEIIE  are  some  points  in  the  whale's  phys- 
-•-  iology,  and  in  the  way  of  disposing  of  the 
blubber,  not  noted  in  previous  chapters,  which 
are  so  well  described  in  parts  of  a  sailor's  yarn 
that  I  have  found  in  a  loose  number  of  the 
Sailor's  Magazine,  of  which  most  excellent  pe- 
riodical we  have  several  on  board,  that  I  will 
take  from  it  here  and  there,  with  corrections, 
what  may  be  wanting  to  complete  the  integ- 
rity of  our  description.  Although  it  is  difficult 
to  describe  the  head  of  a  right  whale  without  the 


80  THE   WHALE   AND 

The  Jaw  Bone.  Nantucket  Gate-posts. 

assistance  of  a  drawing,  yet  a  tolerably  cor- 
rect idea  may  be  obtained  of  it,  by  comparison 
with  known  shapes  and  objects,  and  by  accurate 
dimensions. 

It  is  curiously  adapted  to  the  habits  of  the 
animal,  and  is  unlike  any  other  head  in  nature. 
Its  general  shape  is  not  unlike  a  flat-soled, 
round-toed  shoe,  the  sides  being  straight,  and 
the  widest  part,  or  heel,  joining  the  body.  The 
lower  jaw  is,  say,  eight  or  ten  feet  wide,  where 
it  joins  the  body,  and  grows  narrower  toward 
the  nose,  so  that  when  the  jaw-bones  are  clean- 
ed from  the  flesh  they  form  a  bluntly-pointed 
arch,  and  are  often  preserved  and  used  as  gate- 
posts ;  many  of  them  may  be  seen,  about  New 
Bedford  and  Nantucket,  applied  to  this  use. 
The  skull  or  crown  bone  (for  there  is  no  upper 
jaw)  is  a  single  bone,  rounded  on  its  roof  or  top, 
about  four  or  five  feet  wide  at  the  neck,  and 
gradually  lessening  to  the  nostrils  or  blow-holes, 
which  are  at  its  outward  extremity.  To  this 
bone  is  attached  the  whalebone  of  commerce, 
which  is  in  slabs  averaging  about  a  quarter  of 
an  inch  thick.  The  longest  are  nearest  the 
body,  and  are  eight  or  ten  inches  wide  where 
they  join  the  skull,  and  are  in  a  large  whale  six 


. 


Perpendicular  View  of  the  Whalebone.  Side  View  of  the  Whalebone 


His   CAPTORS.  83 

Whalebone  in  the  Rough.  A  Satiu  Cushion. 

or  eight  feet  long,  narrowing  to  a  point  as  they 
approach  the  lower  jaw. 

They  hang  perpendicularly  from  the  crown 
to  the  jaw,  with  their  thickest  edges  out;  they 
are  set  about  half  an  inch  apart,  something  like 
the  slabs  of  a  Venetian  blind  made  very  close. 
The  inner  edge  of  each  slab  has  a  fringe  of  hair 
about  an  inch  long,  so  that,  on  looking  into  the 
cavity  of  the  head,  the  sides  of  it  appear  as  if 
lined  with  felt  or  hair-cloth.  Upon  the  lower 
jaw  lies  the  enormous  tongue,  which  is  a  mass 
of  fat  containing  four  or  five  barrels  :  it  appears 
like  a  large  cushion  of  white  satin,  so  exceed- 
ingly soft  and  delicate  is  it.  The  lips  are  at- 
tached to  the  sides  of  the  lower  jaw,  and  extend 
nearly  the  whole  length  of  the  head  on  each 
side.  Except  when  feeding,  they  are  closed 
over  the  sides  of  the  head,  their  upper  edges 
fitting  to  the  skull  or  crown,  and  the  whole 
head  appears  as  a  solid  mass ;  but  when  it 
takes  its  food,  the  whale  unfolds  the  lips,  and 
they  drop  upon  the  surface  of  the  water. 

The  food  of  this  whale,  as  we  have  already 
observed,  is  a  species  of  shrimp,  of  a  blood-red 
color.  Some  of  them  are  very  minute,  and 
few  are  found  more  than  half  an  inch  long; 


84  THE   WHALE   AND 

The  Whale  at  Breakfast.  The  Whale  Adrift. 

these  float  in  immense  shoals  on  the  surface  of 
the  ocean,  and  sometimes  color  the  water  for 
miles.  When  the  whale  is  disposed  to  break 
his  fast,  he  rushes  through  a  field  of  shrimps 
with  open  mouth,  until  he  has  received  myr- 
iads of  the  little  animals ;  then,  with  the  lips 
thrown  open,  the  water  is  forced  out  between 
the  slabs  which  I  have  described,  leaving  the 
shrimps  attached  to  the  hairy  strainer  within ; 
by  means  of  the  tongue  they  are  collected,  and 
the  delicate  mouthful  is  conveyed  to  his  capa- 
cious stomach. 

When  "  cutting  in  a  whale,"  as  the  carcass 
rolls  over  by  the  power  of  the  windlass,  the  lips, 
which  are  composed  entirely  of  hard  blubber, 
are  cut  off  and  hoisted  on  board  as  they  present 
themselves.  The  crown  bone  is  also  disjointed 
from  the  body,  and  is  hoisted  in  with  the  whale- 
bone attached  to  it.  A  very  large  head  pro- 
duces a  thousand  pounds.  The  tongue  and  the 
fins  are  also  saved ;  so  that  when  the  carcass 
is  turned  adrift,  after  being  properly  stripped, 
very  little  oily  matter  falls  to  the  share  of  the 
birds,  who  make  a  terrible  clamor,  however,  in 
quarreling  for  that  little. 

The  "  blubber-room"  is  a  space  under  the 


His   CAPTORS.  85 

The  Blubber-room.  The  Oily  Blubber-boys. 

main  hatch,  between  decks,  capable  of  receiving 
the  blubber  of  two  or  three  whales ;  into  this 
every  piece  is  lowered  as  it  comes  from  the 
whale:  these  are  called  " blanket  pieces,"  and 
some  of  them  weigh  one  or  two  tons.  As  they 
are  piled  one  on  another,  the  pressure  of  their 
own  weight,  with  the  motion  of  the  ship,  which 
is  never  at  rest,  causes  the  oil  soon  to  exude, 
and,  mixing  with  the  blood,  more  or  less  of  which 
comes  in  with  each  piece,  the  blubber-room  soon 
presents  an  indescribable  mess. 

Into  this  odorous  retreat  it  is  the  duty  of  one 
man  immediately  to  descend  with  a  cutting- 
spade,  to  commence  cutting  the  "  blanket  pie- 
ces" into  "  horse  pieces ;"  these  are  about  a  foot 
square,  and  by  means  of  a  pike  or  fork,  are 
pitched  up  on  deck  for  mincing,  and  taken  to 
the  "  mincing  horse,"  a  small  table  secured  to 
the  rail  of  the  ship,  where  a  boy,  with  a  short- 
handled  hook,  holds  the  piece  to  keep  it  from 
sliding,  while  the  mincer,  with  a  two-handled 
knife,  slashes  it  nearly  through  into  thin  slices, 
which  just  hang  together ;  the  piece  then  be- 
comes a  "  book,"  and  is  pitched  into  a  large 
tub  ready  for  boiling. 

A  fire  is  now  kindled  in  the  arches  under  the 


86  THE    WHALE    AND 

The  Try  Pots.  The  Fires.  Fire  Accidents. 

pots,  which  are  two  or  three  in  number,  firmly 
set  in  brick  work,  and  each  will  contain  a  hogs- 
head of  oil.  A  small  quantity  of  oil  is  first  put 
in  each,  and,  soon  as  it  becomes  heated,  fresh 
blubber  is  added,  until  the  pots  are  full,  when 
a  portion  from  each  is  bailed  out  with  a  large 
ladle  into  a  copper  cooler,  from  whence  it  is 
received  into  casks  and  stowed  below.  The 
operation  of  boiling  continues  day  and  night 
until  the  whole  is  finished,  and  sometimes,  when 
whales  are  plenty,  the  fires  are  not  put  out  until 
the  ship  is  filled. 

With  such  an  intense  fire  over  a  wooden  deck 
and  frame  for  weeks  together,  and  with  tarred 
cordage  and  canvass  above,  both  of  which  would 
burn  like  tinder,  it  may  seem  strange  that  so 
few  ships  take  fire.  Close  attention  and  un- 
tiring vigilance  can  alone  prevent  it.  If  the 
"  pen"  under  the  works,  which  should  be  kept 
full  of  water,  happen  to  spring  aleak  in  the 
night  without  being  observed,  a  short  time  only 
would  be  sufficient  to  envelop  the  ship  in  flames. 
Sometimes,  too,  a  pot  full  of  boiling  oil  will 
burst,  without  any  apparent  cause,  and  let  its 
contents  into  the  fire  beneath.  Several  ships 
have  been  lost  bv  such  an  accident. 


H I  S     C  A  P  T  O  R  S.  87 

Color  of  the  Oil.  Quantity.  Density. 

Frequently  the  oil  in  a  pot  rises  at  once  and 
boils  over,  communicating  fire  to  the  others: 
this  is  generally  checked  by  means  of  covers 
which  are  at  hand  to  smother  the  flame ;  but, 
though  not  an  uncommon  occurrence,  it  is  at- 
tended with  considerable  danger.  The  color  of 
the  oil  depends  much  upon  the  mode  of  boiling 
it.  Unless  the  pots  are  kept  perfectly  clean, 
and  no  sediment  permitted  to  adhere  to  the  bot- 
tom, the  oil  will  be  dark  and  of  inferior  value. 
It  is  necessary,  therefore,  that  one  man  be  con- 
stantly employed  in  stirring  the  mass,  while  it 
is  the  duty  of  another  to  skim  out  the  scraps  as 
fast  as  they  are  "done:"  these  are  used  for 
fuel,  no  wood  being  necessary  after  the  fire  is 
started. 

The  blubber  on  a  fat  whale  is  sometimes,  in 
its  thickest  parts,  from  fifteen  to  twenty  inches 
thick,  though  seldom  more  than  a  foot ;  it  is  of 
a  coarser  texture  and  much  harder  than  fat 
pork.  So  very  full  of  oil  is  it,  that  a  cask  close- 
ly packed  with  the  clean  raw  fat  of  the  whale 
will  not  contain  the  oil  boiled  from  it,  and  the 
scraps  are  left  beside :  this  has  been  frequently 
proved  by  experiment. 

Both  the  sperm  and  right  whale  are  usually 


THE    WHALE   AND 


The  Whale's  Skin.  His  Robe  of  Silk. 

of  a  jet  black  color,  but  not  unfrequently  the 
right  whale  is  found  with  irregular  spots  of  a 
milky  whiteness,  very  like  those  on  a  pied  horse. 
The  skin  of  both  kinds  is  similar.  Outside  of 
the  sensible  skin,  which  has  no  peculiarity,  there 
is  a  coat  of  something  resembling  fur,  very  close 
and  compact,  and  the  fibres  united  by  a  gluti- 
nous matter,  so  as  to  render  it  about  as  hard 
as  the  rind  of  a  new  cheese :  this  is  termed  the 
"  black  skin,"  and  is  about  half  an  inch  thick. 
Still  outside  of  this  is  a  very  thin  and  delicate 
skin,  which,  when  first  detached  from  the  body, 
whence  it  is  easily  stripped,  very  nearly  resem- 
bles a  glossy  black  silk ;  and  when  the  whale 
basks  in  the  sunbeams  on  the  surface  of  the 
water,  its  smooth  outer  covering  glistens  as  if 
it  were  from  the  looms  of  France  or  Italy,  so 
much  is  it  like  the  shining  silk. 

Soon  as  the  business  of  the  voyage  is  fairly 
commenced  by  taking  the  first  whale,  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  ship  and  her  crew  wofully  chan- 
ges for  the  worse.  The  decks,  which  have 
hitherto  been  kept  scrupulously  clean,  are. now 
covered  with  oil,  and  it  is  only  by  keeping  a 
thick  coat  of  sand  scattered  over  them  that  the 
crew  are  enabled  to  get  about  without  slipping. 


His   CAPTORS.  89 

Oily  Cosmetic.  Whale  Ship  in  the  Suds. 

The  smoke  from  the  try-works  blackens  every 
face,  so  that  the  watch  on  deck  resembles  a 
party  of  colliers.  Each  rope,  too,  exposed  to 
its  influence,  is  coated  with  lamp-black,  and  the 
clothing  of  the  men  saturated  with  oil.  Even 
the  sails,  which  on  the  passage  were  of  a  snowy 
whiteness,  receive  their  share  of  defilement ; 
for,  as  they  are  handed  every  night,  the  men, 
as  they  spring  aloft  from  the  try- works  with 
besmeared  hands  and  clothes,  can  not  furl 
them  without  leaving  a  mark  wherever  fthey 
touch. 

Your  ship,  perhaps,  has  been  thoroughly 
scrubbed  and  cleansed,  crew  cleared  of  "  gurry," 
and  all  again  is  ship-shape  and  tidy,  when, 
just  after  dinner,  as  all  hands  are  on  deck,  the 
welcome  cry  is  raised,  "  There  she  blows  !" 
"Where  away?"  says  the  captain,  hailing  the 
man  aloft.  "  About  two  points  on  the  lee  bow, 
sir."  There  she  blows  !  There  she  blows  !  is 
shouted  again,  and  echoed  back  by  a  dozen  voices 
all  agog.  The  mate,  if  lively,  is  soon  aloft. 

"  What  do  you  make  them,  Mr. ?"  says 

the  captain,  mounted  on  a  thwart  in  the  quar- 
ter boat,  and  scanning  the  horizon  with  the 
most  eager  interest.  "I  can't  make  'em  out 


90  THE    WHALE    AND 


There  goes  Flukes!  Stand  by  and  Lower. 

yet,  sir.  There's  three  or  four  of  'em ;  and 
they're  going  quick  to  windward." 

Presently  there  sings  out  one  from  the  fore- 
top-gallant  yard,  "  There  goes  flu-u-u-kes — 
flukes."  This  is  always  decisive,  for  the  right 
whale,  after  breathing  or  blowing  a  few  mo- 
ments on  the  surface,  pitches  down  head  fore- 
most into  the  deep,  and  as  the  head  descends, 
the  tail  or  flukes  rise  with  a  graceful  curve 
above  the  water,  and  for  a  moment  are  seen  in 
nearly  a  vertical  position,  and  then  slowly  dis- 
appear. All  now  in  your  ship  is  eagerness 
and  engrossment  in  the  motions  of  your  game, 
and  every  man  is  intent  at  his  station.  The 
tubs  of  lines  have  just  been  put  into  the  boat ; 
the  harpoons  and  lances  adjusted  in  their  proper 
places,  ready  for  action. 

"  Lower  away !"  at  length  cries  the  mate, 
and  every  boat  is  instantly  resting  on  the  wa- 
ter, manned  by  their  respective  crews.  "  Give 
way,  my  lads !"  is  the  next  you  hear,  and  the 
boats  are  leaping  as  if  alive  toward  the  point 
where  the  whale  was  last  seen.  All  orders  are 
now  given  in  a  low  tone ;  every  man  is  doing 
his  utmost,  and  the  boats  are  springing  over  the 
smooth  swells,  each  striving  to  be  headmost  in 


His   CAPTORS.  93 

Breaking  Water.  The  Chase.  The  Dart. 

the  chase.  "Now  we  rested,  with  our  oars 
apeak,"  says  a  sailor,  narrating  an  actual  scene 
like  this,  "for  the  whales,  who  had  gone  down, 
to  break  water  again.  Presently  they  were 
up  and  blowing  all  around,  and  very  much  scat- 
tered, being  alarmed  by  the  boats,  so  that  it 
was  impossible  to  get  near  enough  for  a  dart. 
But  at  one  time  five  of  the  monsters  rose  close 
to  our  boats.  The  mate  motioned  us  all  to  be 
silent,  when  we  could  have  fastened  to  one,  and 
the  only  reason,  as  we  supposed,  why  he  did 
not,  was  because  he  was  so  frightened. 

"The  whale  now  ran  to  the  southward,  and 
every  boat  was  in  chase  as  fast  as  we  could 
spring  to  our  oars.  The  first  mate's  boat  was 
headmost  in  the  chase,  ours  next,  and  the  cap- 
tain's about  half  a  mile  astern.  The  foremost 
now  came  up  with  and  fastened  to  a  large 
whale.  We  were  soon  on  the  battle  ground, 
and  saw  him  struggling  to  free  himself  from 
the  barbed  harpoon,  which  had  gone  deep  into 
his  huge  carcass.  We  pulled  upon  the  mon- 
ster, and  our  boat-steerer  darted  another  har- 
poon into  him.  "  Stern  all !"  shouted  the  mate. 
"  Stern  all,  for  your  lives !"  We  steered  out 
of  the  reach  of  danger,  and  peaked  our  oars. 


94  THE   WHALE   AND 

The  Race.  The  Agony.  In  at  the  Death. 

"  The  whale  now  ran,  and  took  the  line  out  of 
the  boat  with  such  swiftness  that  we  were 
obliged  to  throw  water  on  it  to  prevent  its  tak- 
ing fire  by  friction  around  the  loggerhead. 
Then  he  stopped,  and  blindly  thrashed  and  roll- 
ed about  in  great  agony,  so  that  it  seemed  mad- 
ness to  approach  him.  By  this  time,  however, 
the  captain  came  up  and  boldly  darted  another 
harpoon  into  his  writhing  body.  The  enraged 
whale  raised  his  head  above  the  water,  snapped 
his  horrid  jaws  together,  and  in  his  senseless 
fury  lashed  the  sea  into  foam  with  his  flukes. 
The  mate  now,  in  his  turn,  approached  near 
enough  to  bury  a  lance  deep  in  his  vitals,  and 
shouted  again,  at  the  top  of  his  voice,  "  Stern 
all !"  A  thick  stream  of  blood,  instead  of  water, 
was  soon  issuing  from  his  spout-holes.  An- 
other lance  was  buried  ;  he  was  thrown  into  dy- 
ing convulsions,  and  ran  around  in  a  circle ; 
but  his  flurry  was  soon  over ;  he  turned  upon 
his  left  side,  and  floated  dead.  We  gave  three 
hearty  cheers,  and  took  him  in  tow  for  the  ship, 
which  was  now  about  fifteen  miles  off." 

This  towing  of  captured  whales  is  no  boy's 
play  ;  although  it  is  one  of  the  pleasantest  parts 
of  a  whaleman's  duty,  it  is  also  often  the  most 


His   CAPTORS.  95 

Towiiig  a  dead  Whale.     The  Galvanism  for  weary  Muscles. 

laborious,  and  fraught,  too,  with  danger  when 
the  ship  is  distant  and  nightfall  at  hand.  Un- 
der a  fierce  equatorial  sun,  to  row  for  hours, 
perhaps  right  to  windward  or  in  a  dead  calm, 
with  a  carcass  of  seventy  tons'  weight  dragging 
astern,  will  blister  the  hands  and  strain  the 
muscles  of  the  hardiest  whaleman,  and  wearied 
nature  will  sometimes  give  out.  But  it  is 
cheerfully  endured  for  the  end  in  view,  of  cut- 
ting in,  and  trying  out,  and  stowing  down  a 
"hundred  barreler,"  that  will  net  to  the  ship 
three  thousand  or  fifteen  hundred  dollars,  ac- 
cording as  it  is  a  sperm  or  a  right  whale.  If 
money  makes  the  mare  go,  so  does  oil  the  crew 
of  a  "blubber  hunter,"  from  the  green  cabin- 
boy  to  the  sable  doctor. 


96  THE  WHALE  AND 


Rhymes  of  an  Ancient  Mariner. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

DIFFERENT     CRUISING     GROUNDS     AND     NORTHWEST 
WHALING. 

Thou  didst,  O  Lord  !  create  the  mighty  whale, 

That  wondrous  monster  of  prodigious  length : 
Vast  are  his  head  and  body,  vast  his  tail ; 

Beyond  conception  his  unmeasured  strength. 
When  he  the  surface  of  the  sea  hath  broke, 

Arising  from  the  dark  abyss  below, 
His  breath  appears  a  lofty  stream  of  smoke, 

The  circling  waves  like  glittering  banks  of  snow. — Anon. 

IT  will  be  readily  surmised  that  none  but  a 
genuine  son  of  the  sea,  a  veritable  Cape 
Homer,  "  homeward  bound,"  in  the  great 
South  Pacific,  could  make  these  characteristic 
rhymes,  and  many  other  rude  but  expressive 
ones,  which  there  is  not  room  to  transcribe  here. 
The  sailor  that  made  them  says  of  himself,  in 
the  course  of  some  doggerel  staves  of  autobiog- 
raphy, 

I  twice  into  the  dark  abyss  was  cast, 

Straining  and  struggling  to  retain  my  breath ; 

Thy  waves  and  billows  over  me  were  past ; 
Thou  didst,  O  Lord !  deliver  me  from  death. 

Different   practised    whalemen   tell   me   of 


His  CAPTORS.  97 

Different  Whales  Enumerated.  The  Razor-back. 

twelve  or  fourteen  different  species  of  this  great 
sea  monster :  right,  sperm,  black-fish,  hump- 
back, razor-back,  fin-back,  grampus,  sulphur- 
bottom,  killer,  cow-fish,  porpoise,  nar  whale, 
scrag  whale,  and  elephant  whale.  In  the  at- 
tempt to  capture  one  of  the  latter  kind,  a  New 
London  ship,  not  long  since,  lost  eleven  men, 
including  the  first  mate.  The  first  four  of  this 
catalogue  only  are  much  sought  after  for  their 
oil ;  now  and  then  some  of  the  others  are  taken 
by  chance.  The  razor-back  is  sometimes  one 
hundred  and  five  feet  long,  but  not  so  large 
round  as  the  right  whale,  bearing  about  the  same 
comparison  to  the  latter  that  a  razor-faced  fel- 
low you  now  and  then  meet  with  among  men 
does  to  a  fair,  round  alderman.  The  porpoise, 
as  every  one  knows,  is  harpooned  from  a  ship's 
bow,  hauled  on  board,  and  its  carcass  eaten  by 
the  name  of  "  sea  beef."  Its  oil,  like  the  ship's 
slush,  is  a  perquisite  of  the  cook's. 

The  fin-back,  so  called  from  a  large  fin  on 
the  ridge  of  its  back,  looking  just  like  the  gno- 
mon of  a  dial,  is  a  large  whale  found  all  over 
the  ocean,  and,  could  it  be  taken,  would  add 
greatly  to  the  productiveness  of  the  whale  fish- 
ery. It  often  comes  near  a  ship  with  a  ringing 
G 


98  THE    WHALE   AND 

Gambols  of  the  Fin-back.  How  to  be  Caught. 

noise,  in  spouting,  like  the  sound  of  bell-metal, 
but  it  can  seldom  be  so  closely  approached  by  a 
boat  as  to  dart  a  harpoon ;  and  when  it  is  struck, 
it  is  said  to  run  with  such  amazing  swiftness 
as  to  part  the  line  before  it  can  be  let  out,  or 
compel  to  cut  it  loose.  Its  spout  at  a  distance, 
especially  near  the  Falkland  Islands,  where  I 
have  seen  them  in  great  numbers,  flashes  up 
from  the  ocean  just  like  smoke  from  the  breech 
of  a  gun  fired  in  a  frosty  morning.  I  have 
seen  the  horizon  thus,  for  an  extent  of  many 
miles,  all  smoking  with  them,  and  the  ocean 
all  alive  with  their  gambols.  It  is  not  a  thing 
beyond  the  reach  of  probability  that  this  hith- 
erto unmolested  sea-rover  may  yet  be  brought 
within  the  all-powerful  grasp  of  predatory 
man  by  swivels  or  air-guns,  that  shall  fire  har- 
poons into  him,  or  poisoned  arrows  from  a  dis- 
tance. 

The  places  where  the  right  whale  is  now 
most  sought  by  the  adventurous  American 
whaleman  are,  in  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  what 
are  called  Main  and  False  Banks,  between  Af- 
rica and  Brazil,  the  parts  around  the  Falkland 
Islands  and  Patagonia,  and  the  region  of  ocean 
in  mid- Atlantic,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Island  of 


His   CAPTORS.  99 

Various  Resorts  of  the  Whale.  Successful  Seasons. 

Tristan  d'Acunha ;  in  the  Southern  Ocean, 
south  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  there  are  the 
uninhabited  Crozettes  Islands,  St.  Paul's,  and 
other  parts  of  the  Indian  Ocean ;  in  the  Pacific 
Ocean,  there  are  the  New  Zealand  cruising 
ground,  the  New  Holland,  Chili,  and  the  North- 
west, from  the  coast  of  America  clear  over  to 
Kamtschatka. 

This  last  is  now  the  great  harvest-field  of 
American  whalers  from  May  to  October ;  and 
it  will  be  likely  to  last  longer  than  any  other, 
because  they  are  prohibited  by  the  Russians 
from  bay  whaling,  which  destroys  the  cows 
about  the  time  of  calving.  Almost  all  ships 
fill  up  there.  Some  have  even  thrown  over- 
board provisions  to  make  way  for  oil.  The 
havoc  they  make  of  whales  is  immense.  There 
are  ships  that  took,  during  the  last  season, 
twenty-five  to  even  thirty-three  hundred  bar- 
rels in  a  few  months.  I  have  heard  of  one 
ship  that  sunk  twenty-six  whales  after  she  had 
killed  them  ;  of  another  that  killed  nine  before 
she  saved  one  ;  of  another  that  killed  six  in 
one  day,  and  all  of  them  sunk ;  of  another  that 
had  three  boats  stove  and  all  the  men  pitched 
into  the  sea,  without  any  one's  being  lost.  This 


100  THE   WHALE   AND 

A  Huge  Northwester.  A  Veteran  Whaler. 

forced  trial  of  hydropathy  is,  indeed,  so  com- 
mon an  occurrence,  that  whalemen  make  noth- 
ing of  it. 

Those  huge  northwest  whales  are  more  vi- 
cious, and  less  easily  approached  after  they  are 
struck,  than  the  whales  of  other  latitudes.  It 
is  considered  no  disgrace  to  be  run  away  with 
by  one  of  those  jet-black  fellows,  found  in  forty- 
five  or  fifty  degrees  north;  and  many  an  old 
whaler,  who  has  made  his  boast  that  never  yet 
did  a  whale  run  off  with  him,  has  been  com- 
pelled to  give  in  beat  when  fast  to  one  of  these 
"  Northwest  Tartars." 

One  captain  says  he  has  seen  instances  of 
the  most  wonderful  strength  and  activity  in 
these  whales,  greater  than  he  ever  saw  before 
in  either  right  or  sperm.  He  was  once  fast  to 
a  large  cow  whale,  which  was  in  company  with 
a  small  one,  a  full-grown  calf.  They  kept  to- 
gether, and  after  a  time  the  captain  hauled  his 
boat  up  between  them.  When  they  were  both 
within  reach,  he  shoved  his  lance  "  into  the 
life"  of  the  cow,  at  which  she  threw  her  flukes 
and  the  small  part  of  her  body  completely  over 
the  head  of  the  boat  without  touching  it  (al- 
though they  were  half  drowned  with  the  water 


His  CAPTORS.  106 

Missing  the  Mark.  Astride  of  the  Flukes. 

she  scooped  up),  and  the  full  weight  of  the  blow, 
intended  for  the  boat,  fell  upon  the  back  of  the 
other  whale.  He  sunk  immediately,  going 
down  bent  nearly  double,  and,  the  captain 
thinks,  must  have  been  killed  by  the  blow. 
The  same  person  has  seen  a  stout  hickory  pole, 
three  inches  in  diameter  and  six  feet  long,  bro- 
ken into  four  pieces  by  a  blow  from  a  whale's 
tail,  and  the  pieces  sent  flying  twenty  feet  in 
the  air,  and  that,  too,  when  no  other  resistance 
was  offered  than  that  of  the  water  upon  which 
it  floated. 

The  first  whale  this  man  struck  there  turn- 
ed him  over  in  two  different  boats,  and  after- 
ward "  knocked  them  into  kindling  wood," 
while  spouting  blood  in  thick  clots,  and  yet 
this  whale  lived  four  hours  after,  showing  its 
great  tenacity  of  life.  He  came  up  alongside 
the  boat,  and  turned  it  over  with  his  nose,  as  a 
hog  would  his  eating-trough,  and  then  with  his 
flukes  deliberately  broke  it  up.  Of  course  the 
crew  had  to  take  to  Nature's  oars,  and  they  all 
marvelously  escaped  Unhurt,  although  one  of 
them  was  carried  sitting  upon  the  whale's  flukes 
several  rods,  till  he  slid  off  unharmed  from  his 
strange  sea-chariot.  This  man  could  say,  in 


104  THE    WHALE    AND 

History  of  Northwest  Whaling. 

one  of  the  sailor's  rude  rhymes  whom  we  have 
already  quoted, 

Although  he  furiously  doth  us  assail, 
Thou  dost  preserve  us  from  all  danger  free 

He  cuts  our  boat  in  pieces  with  his  tail, 
And  spills  us  all  at  once  into  the  sea. 

This  northwest  cruising  ground  was  first 
visited  in  the  spring  of  1836  by  two  or  three  of 
the  Chili  whalers,  who  saw,  indeed,  numerous 
whales,  but  gave  it  as  their  opinion  that  the 
fishery  could  never  be  prosecuted  there  with 
any  success,  by  reason  of  constant  and  dense 
fogs.  The  following  year  several  more  of  the 
Chili  fleet  started  to  the  northward,  "  between 
seasons,"  and,  looking  further  to  the  north  and 
westward,  found  better  weather,  and  made  a 
good  cruise.  During  the  three  years  following 
few  ships  were  found  there ;  but  upon  the  al- 
most entire  failure  of  the  southern  whale  fish- 
ery, the  right  whalemen  were  forced  to  turn 
their  prows  to  those  inhospitable  seas,  and  the 
northwest,  as  all  men  know,  became  a  very 
El  Dorado  to  the  intrepid  American  whalers. 
This  cruising  ground  extends  properly  from  the 
thirty-fourth  to  the  fifty-ninth  degree  of  north 
latitude,  and  from  the  coast  of  America,  in  west 
longitude  say  one  hundred  and  thirty,  to  the 


His   CAPTORS.  105 

The  Whaleman's  El  Dorado.  News  from  the  Arctic. 

meridian  of  one  hundred  and  seventy  east  lon- 
gitude, or  about  fifty  degrees.  The  largest 
whales  are  said  to  have  been  found  between 
fifty  and  sixty  degrees  north  latitude,  and  from 
one  hundred  and  forty-five  to  one  hundred  and 
eighty  degrees  west  longitude.  At  the  Fox  Isl- 
ands, in  latitude  fifty-two  degrees  north,  sperm 
whales  of  the  largest  size  have  been  found  as 
well  as  right,  and  near  the  peninsula  of  Alaska 
they  are  very  numerous. 

Intelligence  from  the  northern  whaling  ground 
of  latest  date  shows  that  the  Arctic  Ocean  has 
been  entered  at  Behring's  Straits  by  our  in- 
trepid American  whalemen.  Captain  Roys,  of 
the  bark  Superior,  from  Sag  Harbor,  is  thus  re- 
ported in  the  Sandwich  Island  Honolulu  Friend : 
"  I  entered  the  Arctic  Ocean  about  the  middle 
of  July,  and  cruised  from  continent  to  conti- 
nent, going  as  high  as  latitude  seventy,  and  saw 
whales  wherever  I  went,  cutting  in  my  last 
whale  on  the  23d  of  August,  and  returning, 
through  Behring's  Straits,  on  the  28th  of  the 
same  month.  On  account  of  powerful  currents, 
thick  fogs,  the  near  vicinity  of  land  and  ice, 
combined  with  the  imperfection  of  charts  and 
want  of  information  respecting  this  region,  I 


106  THE   WHALE   AND 

Midnight  Whaling.  Giant  Polar  Whale. 

found  it  both  difficult  and  dangerous  to  get  oil, 
although  there  were  plenty  of  whales.  Here- 
after, doubtless,  many  ships  will  go  there,  and 
I  think  there  ought  to  be  some  provision  made 
to  save  the  lives  of  those  who  go  there,  should 
they  be  cast  away." 

During  the  entire  period  of  his  cruise  no  ice 
was  seen,  and  the  weather  was  ordinarily  pleas- 
ant, so  that  the  men  could  work  in  light  cloth- 
ing. In  most  parts  of  the  ocean  there  was 
good  anchorage,  from  fourteen  to  thirty-five 
fathoms,  and  a  part  of  the  time  the  vessel  lay 
at  anchor.  The  first  whale  was  taken  at  twelve 
o'clock  at  night.  It  was  not  difficult  to  whale 
the  whole  twenty-four  hours,  it  being  so  light 
that  it  was  easy  to  read  in  the  cabin  at  mid- 
night. The  whales  were  quite  tame,  but  dif- 
ferent from  any  Captain  Roys  had  ever  before 
taken.  He  captured  three  different  species, 
one  of  the  largest  yielding  two  hundred  bar- 
rels of  oil.  The  first  species  much  resembled 
the  Greenland  whale,  affording  one  hundred 
and  sixty  or  seventy  barrels.  The  second  was 
a  species  called  Polar  whale,  a  few  of  which 
have  been  taken  before  on  the-  Northwest  Coast ; 
and  the  third  was  a  small  whale  peculiar  to 


His   CAPTORS.  107 

Maury's  Theory.     Probable  Duration  of  Northwest  Whaling. 

that  ocean.     The  last  three  whales  which  were 
taken  yielded  together  over  six  hundred  barrels. 

It  is  the  opinion  of  Lieutenant  Maury,  of  the 
United  States  National  Observatory,  that  all 
the  whales  in  the  Pacific  Ocean  have  particu- 
lar resorts  at  certain  seasons  of  the  year,  where 
the  whalers  may  generally  expect  to  find  them, 
just  as  the  shad,  salmon,  herring,  and  other 
fish  are  periodically  found.  He  is  endeavoring 
to  work  out  this  conclusion,  and  to  fix  the  lo- 
calities of  whales'  resorts  by  a  comparison  of 
the  logs  of  a  vast  number  of  whalers.  It  is 
easy  to  see  that,  if  he  should  succeed,  it  will  be 
of  great  importance  to  the  whaling  interest,  as 
it  will  reduce  the  expense  of  outfits  by  short- 
ening the  time  of  voyages,  and  making  their 
results  more  sure  and  speedy. 

If  we  inquire  into  the  probable  duration  of 
this  Northwest  whaling,  including  this  Arctic 
opening,  there  seems  good  reason  to  believe, 
from  the  extent  of  ocean  it  embraces,  greater 
than  all  the  other  cruising  grounds  together, 
that  it  will  continue  good  at  least  twenty  or 
twenty-five  years  from  its  commencement.  An 
experienced  captain  thinks  that  as  there  is  not, 
nor  is  likely  to  be,  any  bay  whaling  on  this 


108  THE   WHALE   AND 

A  Bill  of  Mortality.  Yearly  DeBtruction. 

cruising  ground,  the  whales  will  be  less  con- 
stantly hunted,  and  nearly  all  the  calves  born 
will  arrive  at  an  age  when  they  can  take  care 
of  themselves  before  the  old  whales  are  encoun- 
tered in  the  summer  season  by  their  sworn  en- 
emy, man.  He  estimates  that  by  three  hund- 
red ships  capturing  or  mortally  wounding  for- 
ty whales  each,  twelve  thousand  whales  are 
killed  in  a  season ;  and  as  many  of  these,  per- 
haps full  half,  are  cows  with  calf,  the  number 
of  whales  to  be  born  and  arrive  at  maturity,  in 
order  to  make  up  for  this  sweeping  destruction 
among  them,  must  be  not  less  than  eighteen 
thousand.  He  thinks,  therefore,  that  the  poor 
whale,  chased  from  sea  to  sea,  and  from  haunt 
to  haunt,  is  doomed  to  utter  extermination,  or 
so  near  it,  that  too  few  will  remain  to  tempt 
the  cupidity  of  man. 

The  history  of  the  sperm  whale  fishery,  from 
the  first,  when  only  five  and  six  months  were 
necessary  to  complete  a  cargo  upon  the  Brazil 
ground,  and  fifteen  upon  that  of  Chili,  to  its 
present  almost  entire  abandonment  as  a  sepa- 
rate business,  confirms  this  calculation.  Be- 
fore the  end  of  the  present  century,  therefore, 
judging  from  the  past,  is  it  likely  that  the  hunt- 


His   CAPTORS.  109 

Fact  and  Speculation.  A  Problem  for  Posterity. 

ing  of  whales  on  the  sea  will  be  any  more  pros- 
ecuted as  a  business  than  the  hunting  of  deer 
on  the  land  ?  In  one  part  of  the  world  they 
have  been  driven  to  the  deepest  recesses  of  Baf- 
fin's Bay,  and  in  another  to  the  very  confines 
of  the  Pacific,  and  off  to  the  icebergs  of  the 
antarctic  zone.  "  Whether  their  mammoth 
bones  in  some  distant  century  shall  indicate  to 
the  untaught  natives  of  the  shores  they  now 
frequent  that  such  an  animal  was,  or  whether, 
lurking  in  the  inaccessible  and  undisturbed  wa- 
ters north  of  Asia  and  America,  the  race  shall 
be  preserved,  is  almost  a  problem." 

They  roamed,  they  fed,  they  slept,  they  died,  and  left 
Race  after  race  to  roam,  feed,  sleep,  then  die, 
And  leave  their  like  through  endless  generations  : 
So  HE  ordained,  whose  way  is  in  the  sea, 
His  path  amid  great  waters,  and  his  steps 
Unknown ! 


110  THE   WHALE   AND 

The  Whale's  Peace  Principles.  Gentleness  of  Temper. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


CAPTURE. 

The  whale  he  shall  still  be  dear  to  me, 

When  the  midnight  lamp  grows  dim ; 
For  the  student's  book,  and  his  favorite  nook, 

Are  illumined  by  aid  of  him. 
From  none  of  his  tribe  could  we  e'er  imbibe 

So  useful,  so  blessed  a  thing. 
Then  hand  in  hand  we'll  go  on  the  land, 

To  hail  him  the  Ocean  King. — Sailor's  Song. 

TN  continuing  our  inquiries  into  the  peculiari- 
•*•  ties  of  whales  and  incidents  of  whaling,  it 
is  to  be  remarked  of  the  great  right  whale  (Ba- 
laena  Mysticetus),  that,  like  the  hugest  of  all 
land  animals,  its  disposition  is  mild  and  inof- 
fensive. It  never  shows  fight  except  when 
wounded,  and  then  in  an  awkward  and  blind 
way,  that  proves  it  is  not  used  to  war  either  of- 
fensive or  defensive.  Its  immediate  recourse  is 
to  flight,  except  when  it  has  young  to  look  out 
for,  and  then  it  is  bold  as  a  lion,  and  manifests 
an  affection  which  is  itself  truly  affecting.  It 
grazes  quietly  through  the  great  deep,  never 


His   CAPTORS.  Ill 

The  Creator's  Wisdom.  Care  for  their  Young. 

using  its  prodigious  strength  to  seize  or  lord  it 
over  other  inhabitants  of  the  seas,  but  strains 
its  insect-like  food  through  its  admirably  con- 
trived apparatus  of  bone  and  hair,  that  striking- 
ly evinces  His  beneficence  and  wise  design, 

Whose  creating  hand 
Nothing  imperfect  or  deficient  left 
Of  all  that  he  created. 

It  makes  one  think  of  the  couplet  we  used  to 
read,  when  boys,  in  the  New  England  Primer : 

Whales  in  the  sea 

God's  voice  obey. 

Even  the  mute  fish  that  swim  the  flood, 
Leap  up,  and  mean  the  praise  of  God. 

I  have  heard  of  one  of  these  whales  with  a 
cub,  when  driven  into  shoal  water,  being  seen 
to  swim  around  its  young,  and  sometimes  to 
embrace  it  with  her  fins,  and  roll  over  with  it 
in  the  waves,  evincing  the  tenderest  maternal 
solicitude.  Then,  as  if  aware  of  the  impend- 
ing peril  of  her  inexperienced  offspring,  as  the 
boat  drew  near,  she  would  run  round  her  calf 
in  decreasing  circles,  and  try  to  decoy  it  sea- 
ward, showing  the  utmost  uneasiness  and  anx- 
iety.  Reckoning  well  that,  the  calf  once  struck, 
the  dam  would  never  desert  it,  the  only  care  of 
the  harpooner  was  to  get  near  enough  to  bury 


112  THE   WHALE   AND 

An  Affecting  Instance  of  Maternal  Solicitude  in  a  Whale. 

his  tremendous  weapon  deep  in  its  ribs,  which 
was  no  sooner  done  than  the  poor  animal  darted 
away  with  its  anxious  dam,  taking  out  a  hun- 
dred fathoms  of  line.  It  was  but  a  little  time, 
however,  before,  being  checked,  and  the  barb 
lacerating  its  vitals,  it  turned  on  its  back,  and, 
displaying  its  white  belly  on  the  surface  of  the 
water,  it  floated  a  motionless  corpse. 

The  huge  dam,  with  an  affecting  maternal 
instinct  more  powerful  than  reason,  never  quit- 
ted the  body  till  a  cruel  harpoon  entered  her 
own  sides ;  then,  with  a  single  tap  of  her  tail, 
she  cut  in  two  one  of  the  boats,  and  took  to 
flight,  but  returned  soon,  exhausted  with  loss 
of  blood,  to  die  by  her  calf,  evidently,  in  her 
last  moments,  more  occupied  with  the  preserva- 
tion of  her  young  than  of  herself. 

The  habits  and  living  of  the  sperm  whale 
are  quite  as  different  from  those  of  the  right  as 
is  its  structure.  Its  head  is  enormously  large 
and  unshapely,  and  furnished  with  an  immense 
under  jaw,  that  is  armed  with  two  rows  of  mam- 
moth teeth,  forty-eight  and  fifty-four  in  num- 
ber. It  seizes  its  prey  with  these  teeth,  hav- 
ing no  whalebone  sieve  or  strainer,  like  what 
has  been  already  described  in  the  right  whale, 


His   CAPTORS.  113 

Sperm  Whale  Disgorging.  Sperm  Whale  Feeding. 

and  it  is  supported  principally  by  the  squid, 
otherwise  called  cuttle-fish,  or  Sepia  Octopus, 
of  which  one  sperm  whale  that  we  have  lately 
captured  disgorged  pieces  as  long  as  the  whale 
boat,  before  going  into  its  flurry. 

From  what  I  have  observed  myself  and  have 
been  told  by  others,  it  appears  that  when  this 
whale  is  inclined  to  feed,  he  goes  to  a  certain 
depth  below  the  surface,  and  there  remains  in 
an  oblique  position,  as  quiet  as  possible,  open- 
ing his  vast  elongated  mouth  like  a  great  bag- 
net,  until  the  lower  jaw  hangs  down  perpendic- 
ularly, or  at  right  angles  with  the  body.  The 
roof  of  his  mouth,  the  tongue,  and  especially 
the  teeth,  being  of  a  glistening  white  color, 
must  of  course  present  a  remarkable  appear- 
ance, which  seems  to  be  that  which  attracts  his 
prey.  When  a  sufficient  number  of  other  fish, 
or  quantity  of  the  squid,  as  the  case  may  be, 
are  within  the  mouth,  he  rapidly  closes  his  jaw 
and  swallows  the  contents. 

When  this  creature  is  fatally  struck  or  kill- 
ed while  in  the  act  of  feeding,  the  whalemen 
will  soon  know  the  items  of  its  last  bill  of  fare  ; 
for,  while  the  waters  around  are  purpled  with 
its  gore,  and  a  crimson  tide  is  flowing  from  its 
H 


114  THE   WHALE   AND 

Sperm  Whale  in  Pain.  Sperm  "Whale  Dying. 

spiracles,  portions  of  its  lance-lacerated  lungs 
and  the  contents  of  its  capacious  stomach  also 
are  being  vomited  at  the  mouth.  The  sea,  too, 
will  be  lashed  by  its  mighty  tail  with  a  sound 
that  may  be  heard  in  calm  weather  for  miles 
like  thunder. 

It  is  painful  to  witness  the  death-agony  of 
any  creature,  even  the  smallest  that  God  has 
given  life  to,  much  more  that  of  one  in  which 
life  is  so  lively  and  tenacious,  and  animating  so 
vast  a  bulk.  And  though  it  be  true  what  the 
dramatic  poet  said, 

The  sense  of  death  is  most  in  apprehension, 
And  the  poor  beetle  that  we  tread  upon, 
In  corporal  sufferance  feels  a  pang 
As  great  as  when  a  giant  dies^ 

yet  I  am  not  one  that  can  coolly  observe  the  last 
agony  of  so  mighty  an  organized  creature  as  the 
whale  with  as  little  emotion  as  some  persons 
feel  at  the  crushing  of  a  reptile  or  the  writhing 
of  a  worm ;  nor  do  I  believe  that  the  suffering 
in  the  one  case  is  as  great  as  that  in  the  other. 
But  it  is  painful  enough  to  see  any  thing  forci- 
bly bereft  of  the  boon  of  life,  the  gift  of  Him 
that  made  us  all, 

Who  gives  its  luster  to  the  insect's  wing, 

And  wheels  his  throne  upon  the  rolling  worlds. 


His   CAPTORS.  115 

Sperm  Whale  sick.  Sperm  Whale  wanting  Physic. 

Cowper's  principle  in  regard  to  animals  and 
insects  is  the  right  one : 

The  sum  is  this  :  if  man's  convenience,  health, 
Or  safety  interfere,  his  rights  and  claims 
Are  paramount,  and  must  extinguish  theirs. 
Else  they  are  all — the  meanest  things  that  are — 
As  free  to  live,  and  to  enjoy  that  life, 
As  God  was  free  to  form  them  at  the  first, 
Who  in  his  sovereign  wisdom  made  them  all. 

The  substance  called  ambergris,  and  highly 
prized  in  perfumery,  is  obtained  from  the  sperm 
whale,  being,  formed,  it  is  thought,  in  that  state 
of  the  system  which  calls  for  a  cathartic.  A 
peck  of  Morrison's  or  Brandreth's  pills,  or  the 
homeopathic  dose  of  a  pound  of  calomel  and 
jalap,  would  probably  remove  obstructions  in 
the  creature's  abdominal  viscera,  and  prevent 
the  formation  of  ambergris  concretions,  with 
undoubted  benefit  to  the  whale's  corporation 
from  the  drastic  operation,  though  it  might  be 
a  loss  to  the  perfumer  and  the  Asiatic  gastron- 
omer, inasmuch  as  we  learn  from  the  Materia 
Medica  that  in  Asia  and  parts  of  Africa  am- 
bergris is  not  only  used  as  a  medicine  and  a 
perfume,  but  considerable  use  also  is  made  of 
it  in  cooking,  by  adding  it  to  several  dishes  as 
a  spice.  A  great  quantity  of  it  also  is  con- 
stantly brought  by  the  pilgrims  who  travel  to 


116  THE    WHALE   AND 

Ambergris  for  the  Perfumer.  Whence  Derived. 

Mecca,  probably  to  offer  it  there  in  fumiga- 
tions, like  as  frankincense  in  the  worship  of  the 
Church  of  Rome. 

A  costive  whale,  when  struck  by  the  harpoon, 
will  often  throw  up  or  discharge  this  substance, 
and  it  will  be  found  floating  about  him.  It  is 
said  to  have  been  a  Nantucket  whaler  that  thus 
accidentally  ascertained  the  origin  of  a  sub- 
stance which  had  been  known  before  vaguely 
as  an  unaccountable  product  of  the  sea.  Pieces 
have  been  picked  up  by  sailors  about  a  dying 
whale  worth  twenty  dollars ;  and  masses  of 
it  have  been  found  of  from  sixty  to  two  hund- 
red and  twenty-five  pounds'  weight,  floating  on 
the  surface  of  the  ocean,  in  regions  much  fre- 
quented by  the  sperm  whale.  We  have  not 
been  so  fortunate  as  to  light  upon  any.  It  is  a 
pity  that  nine  tenths  of  the  mineral  drugs  in 
use  could  not  be  employed  to  purge  the  amber- 
gris out  of  the  huge  intestines  of  sick  whales, 
rather  than  to  turn  the  stomachs,  and  irritate 
the  bowels,  and  loosen  the  teeth,  and  produce 
caries  in  the  bones  of  men. 

If  the  gigantic  denizens  of  the  deep  were  as 
much  physicked,  doubtless  there  would  be  full 
as  much  sickness  among  them  as  among  the 


His    CAPTORS.  117 

Disorders  and  Deformities  of  Whales.  Their  Wars. 

human  mammalia  on  the  land.  As  it  is,  it  is 
quite  clear  that  they  are  subject  both  to  disease 
.and  deformity,  some  having  been  taken  that 
were  entirely  blind,  both  eyes  being  complete- 
ly disorganized,  and  the  orbits  occupied  by  fun- 
gous masses  protruding  considerably ;  render- 
ing it  certain  that  the  whale  must  have  been 
deprived  of  vision  for  a  considerable  space  of 
time,  yet  not  so  as  to  incapacitate  him  for  feed- 
ing, blind  whales  being  found  as  fat  as  the  see- 
ing ones. 

The  deformity  referred  to  is  a  crookedness 
of  the  lower  jaw,  which  old  whalers  say  is 
caused  by  fighting.  Sperm  whales  have  been 
seen  to  fight  by  rushing,  head  first,  one  upon 
the  other,  their  mouths  at  the  same  time  wide 
open,  their  object  appearing  to  be  to  seize  their 
opponent  by  the  lower  jaw.  For  this  purpose 
they  frequently  turn  themselves  on  the  side,  and 
become,  as  it  were,  locked  together,  their  jaws 
crossing  each  other,  and  in  this  manner  they 
strive  vehemently  for  the  mastery,  with  a  force 
compared  to  which  not  even  Milton's  wars  of 
the  angels 

Could  merit  more  than  that  small  infantry 
Warred  on  by  cranes  ;  though  all  the  giant  brood 
Of  Phlegra  with  the  heroic  race  were  joined 


118  THE   WHALE   AND 

Term  of  Life.  The  Size  and  Weight  of  a  Youngling. 

That  fought  at  Thebes  and  Ilium,  on  each  side 
Mixed  with  auxiliar  gods ;  and  what  resounds 
In  fable  or  romance,  of  Uther's  son, 
Begirt  with  British  and  Armoric  knights. 

The  size  of  a  sixty  foot  right  whale,  which 
is,  perhaps,  that  of  the  average,  can  be  some- 
what clearly  apprehended  by  Captain  Scores- 
by's  estimate  of  its  weight  at  seventy  tons,  or 
the  weight  of  three  hundred  fat  oxen,  of  which 
the  oil  in  a  fat  subject  will  be  nearly  thirty  tons. 
Some  whalemen  judge  it  does  not  attain  its  full 
size  until  twenty-five  years,  by  certain  notches 
which  they  think  they  can  observe  in  the  slabs 
of  whalebone.  But  this  can  not  be  clearly  as- 
certained. The  natural  life  of  the  animal  is  un- 
doubtedly much  longer.  Analogy  would  lead 
to  the  inference  that  it  might  be  as  long  lived 
as  the  elephant,  to  which  it  bears  a  resemblance 
in  certain  other  particulars  besides  its  size. 

The  calf  of  a  large  right  whale  at  birth  is 
about  fourteen  feet  long,  and  weighs  a  ton.  The 
milk  of  the  cow  is  then  very  abundant.  I  have 
heard  those  who  have  seen  it  say,  that  when 
the  mammae  of  a  nursing  cow  whale  are  cut,  the 
flow  of  milk  will  whiten  the  ocean.  The  ascer- 
tained fact  that  it  brings  forth  its  young  only 
one  at  a  time,  or  at  most  two,  and  probably 


His   CAPTORS.  119 

Time  of  Gestation.  Natural  Enemies  of  the  Whale. 

once  a  year,  or  after  a  period  of  nine  or  ten 
months'  gestation,  together  with  the  rapid  de- 
crease of  their  numbers  by  slaughter  on  every 
cruising  ground  in  the  ocean  where  whalers 
have  found  them,  to  the  number  often  of  hund- 
reds at  once,  would  seem  to  be  evidence  of  its 
slow  growth  and  long  life. 

The  only  natural  enemies  it  is  known  to  have 
are  the  sword-fish,  thrasher,  and  killer.  This 
latter  is  itself  a  species  of  whale  that  has  sharp 
teeth,  and  is  exceedingly  swift  in  the  water,  and 
will  bite  and  worry  a  whale  until  quite  dead. 
When  one  of  them  gets  among  a  gam  or  school 
of  whales,  he  spreads  great  consternation,  and 
the  timid  creatures  fly  every  way  like  deer 
chased  by  the  hounds,  and  fall  an  easy  prey  to 
whale-boats  that  may  be  near  to  avail  them- 
selves of  the  opportunity.  I  have  heard  a 
captain  detail  with  great  interest  a  scene  of 
this  kind,  in  which  the  killers  and  harpooners 
were  together  against  the  poor  whales,  and  the 
killers  actually  succeeded  in  pulling  under  and 
making  off  with  one  prize  which  the  whalemen 
thought  themselves  sure  of. 

In  the  United  States  exploring  squadron,  on 
board  the  Peacock,  as  we  learn  from  the  nar- 


120  THE    WHALE   AND 

Fight  with  a  Killer.  Terrible  Conflict. 

rative  of  Commander  Wilkes,  they  witnessed  a 
sea-fight  between  a  whale  and  one  of  these  ene- 
mies. The  sea  was  quite  smooth,  and  offered 
the  best  possible  view  of  the  combat.  First,  at 
a  distance  from  the  ship,  a  whale  was  seen  floun- 
dering in  a  most  extraordinary  way,  lashing  the 
smooth  sea  into  perfect  foam,  and  endeavoring 
apparently  to  extricate  himself  from  some  an- 
noyance. As  he  approached  the  ship,  the  strug- 
gle continuing  and  becoming  more  violent,  it 
was  perceived  that  a  fish,  about  twenty  feet 
long,  held  him  by  the  jaw,  his  spoutings,  con- 
tortions, and  throes  all  betokening  the  agony 
of  the  huge  monster. 

The  whale  now  threw  himself  at  full  length 
upon  the  water,  with  open  mouth,  his  pursuer 
still  hanging  to  his  under  jaw,  the  blood  issuing 
from  the  wound,  and  dyeing  the  sea  for  a  long 
distance  around.  But  all  his  flounderings  were 
of  no  avail ;  his  pertinacious  enemy  still  main- 
tained his  hold,  and  was  evidently  getting  the 
advantage  of  him.  Much  alarm  seemed  to  be 
felt  by  the  many  other  whales  about.  These 
"  killers"  are  of  a  brownish  color  on  the  back, 
and  white  on  the  belly,  with  a  long  dorsal  fin. 
Such  was  the  turbulence  with  which  they  pass- 


His   CAPTORS.  121 

Sword-fish  and  Thrasher  united  against  the  Whale. 

ed,  that  a  good  view  could  not  be  had  of  them 
to  make  out  more  nearly  the  description.  These 
fish  attack  a  whale  in  the  same  way  that  a  dog 
baits  a  bull,  and  worry  him  to  death.  They 
are  endowed  with  immense  strength,  armed 
with  strong,  sharp  teeth,  and  generally  seize 
the  whale  by  the  lower  jaw.  It  is  said  the  only 
part  they  eat  of  them  is  the  tongue. 

The  sword-fish  and  thrasher  have  been  also 
seen  to  attack  the  whale  together,  the  sword- 
fish  driving  his  tremendous  weapon  into  the 
belly  of  the  whale  from  beneath  upward,  and 
the  thrasher  fastened  to  his  back,  and  giving 
him  terrific  blows  with  his  flail.  The  thrasher 
not  having  any  power  to  strike  through  the  wa- 
ter, it  has  been  observed  by  all  who  have  wit- 
nessed these  strange  combats,  that  it  seems  to 
be  the  instinctive  war  policy  of  the  sword-fish 
to  make  his  attack  from  below,  thus  causing 
the  whale  to  rise  above  the  surface,  which,  un- 
der the  prick  of  the  cruel  sword  of  his  ene- 
my, he  has  been  known  to  do  to  a  great  height, 
the  unrelenting  thrasher  meanwhile  holding  on 
like  a  leech,  and  dealing  his  blows  unsparingly 
through  the  air  with  all  the  force  of  his  lengthy 
frame,  sometimes  twenty  feet. 


122  THE   WHALE   AND 

A  Combat  Witnessed  between  the  Sea  Serpent  and  Whale. 

From  a  statement  made  by  a  Kennebec  ship- 
master in  1818,  and  sworn  to  before  a  justice 
of  the  peace  in  Kennebec  county,  Maine,  it 
would  seem  that  the  notable  sea  serpent  and 
whale  are  sometimes/ound  in  conflict.  At  six 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  June  21st,  in  the 
packet  Delia,  plying  between  Boston  and  Hal- 
lowell,  when  Cape  Ann  bore  west  southwest 
about  two  miles,  steering  north  northeast,  Cap- 
tain Shubael  West,  and  fifteen  others  on  board 
with  him,  saw  an  object  directly  ahead  which  he 
had  no  doubt  was  the  sea  serpent,  or  the  crea- 
ture so  often  described  under  that  name,  en- 
gaged in  fight  with  a  large  hump-back  whale 
that  was  endeavoring  to  elude  the  attack. 

The  serpent  threw  up  his  tail  from  twenty- 
five  to  thirty  feet  in  a  perpendicular  direction, 
striking  the  whale  by  it  with  tremendous  blows 
rapidly  repeated,  which  were  distinctly  heard 
and  very  loud  for  two  or  three  minutes.  They 
then  both  disappeared,  moving  in  a  west  south- 
west direction,  but  after  a  few  minutes  reap- 
peared in  shore  of  the  packet,  and  about  under 
the  sun,  the  reflection  of  which  was  so  strong 
as  to  prevent  their  seeing  so  distinctly  as  at 
first,  when  the  serpent's  fearful  blows  with  his 


His  CAPTORS.  125 

His  Power  is  in  his  Tail.  The  Whale  Beat. 

tail  were  repeated  and  clearly  heard  as  be- 
fore. 

They  again  went  down  for  a  short  time,  and 
then  came  up  to  the  surface  under  the  packet's 
larboard  quarter,  the  whale  appearing  first  and 
the  serpent  in  pursuit,  who  was  again  seen  to 
shoot  up  his  tail  as  before,  which  he  held  out  of 
water  some  time,  waving  it  in  the  air  before 
striking,  and  at  the  same  time,  while  his  tail 
remained  in  this  position,  he  raised  his  head  fif- 
teen or  twenty  feet,  as  if  taking  a  view  of  the 
surface  of  the  sea.  After  being  seen  in  this  po- 
sition a  few  minutes,  the  serpent  and  whale 
again  sunk  and  disappeared,  and  neither  were 
seen  after  by  any  on  board.  It  was  Captain 
West's  opinion  that  the  whale  was  trying  to  es- 
cape, as  he  spouted  but  once  at  a  time  on  coming 
to  the  surface,  and  the  last  time  he  appeared 
he  went  down  before  the  serpent  came  up. 

Between  all  these  natural  foes  and  its  preda- 
tory human  enemy,  the  great  mammoth  of 
ocean  seems  doomed  to  extinction.  But  I  have 
no  scruple  at  confessing  that,  since  I  have  be- 
come closely  acquainted  with  the  habits  of  the 
great  right  whale,  how  quietly  it  grazes  through 
the  great  pasture-ground  which  God  has  or- 


126  THE   WHALE    AND 

A  Doubt  Started.  Opinion  of  an  Old  Salt. 

dained  for  it  and  fitted  so  well  to  be  its  home, 
and  since  I  have  observed  the  hazards  that  have 
to  be  encountered  and  the  perils  to  be  sur- 
mounted in  its  capture  by  men,  and  have  coup- 
led with  this  the  consideration  of  the  various 
other  sources  from  which  the  human  family  can 
now  be  supplied  with  oil,  whether  for  burning 
or  the  arts,  I  begin  to  be  somewhat  doubtful 
about  the  lawfulness  and  expediency  of  the 
whale  fishery.  As  an  old  whaleman  once  said 
in  his  own  way,  "Whales  has  feelings  as  well 
as  any  body.  They  don't  like  to  be  stuck  in 
the  gizzards,  and  hauled  alongside,  and  cut  in, 
and  tried  out  in  them  'ere  boilers  no  more  than 
I  do." 

This  may  seem  foolish,  and  let  it  go  for 
what  it  is  worth.  But  if  the  business  can  not 
be  successfully  pursued  without  the  flagrant 
violation  of  the  Sabbath  now  caused  by  it,  and 
the  consequent  disastrous  effect  upon  the  moral 
and  religious  characters  of  those  engaged  in  it, 
no  well-grounded  Christian  will  be  in  doubt  as 
to  its  ^lawfulness  and  immorality.  Whale 
ships,  almost  without  exception,  desecrate  the 
Lord's  day  by  taking  their  game  and  making 
way  with  it  just  as  on  any  common  day.  They 


His   CAPTORS.  127 

Sabbath  Desecration.  A  Sailor's  Right. 

pay  no  practical  regard  whatever  to  the  great 
law  of  the  Sabbath,  seeming  utterly  to  forget 
the  combined  prophecy  and  principle, 

Who  resteth  not  one  day  in  seven, 
That  soul  shall  never  rest  in  heaven  I 

But  of  this  more  hereafter.  Meanwhile,  let  me 
say  to  any  seamen  that  may  chance  to  read  these 
pages,  hold  fast  to  the  Sabbath ;  claim  it  of  your 
employers  as  a  right ;  stipulate  beforehand  that 
it  shall  be  yours  for  rest,  religious  reflection, 
and  worship,  and  refuse  on  principle  to  desecrate 
it  by  any  other  labor  than  may  be  necessary 
for  the  safety  and  proper  working  of  the  ship. 

Wanderers  on  the  dark  blue  sea ! 

As  your  bark  rides  gallantly, 

Prayer  and  praise  become  ye  well, 

Though  ye  hear  no  temple  bell. 

The  Sabbath  hours  which  God  has  given, 

Give  ye  to  worship,  rest,  and  heaven  I 


128  THE   WHALE   AND 


Notable  Cape  Horn.  Propitious  Weather. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

ATLANTIC    OCEAN    MAMMOTHS  AND    MONSTERS. 

In  the  free  element  beneath  me  swam, 
Flounder'd,  and  dived,  in  play,  in  chase,  in  battle, 
Fishes  of  every  color,  form,  and  kind  ; 
Which  language  can  not  paint,  and  mariner 
Had  never  seen ;  from  dread  Leviathan 
To  insect  millions  peopling  every  wave  : 
Gather'd  in  shoals  immense,  like  floating  islands, 
Led  by  mysterious  instinct  through  that  waste 
And  trackless  region,  though  on  every  side 
Assaulted  by  voracious  enemies, 
Whales,  sharks,  and  monsters,  arm'd  in  front  or  jaw, 
With  swords,  saws,  spiral  horns,  or  hooked  fangs. 

World  before  the  Flood. 

False  Banks,  Atlantic  Ocean,  lat.  36°  S.,  Ion.  46°  W. 

SINCE  doubling  Cape  Horn,  Providence  has 
been  propitious  in  the  offer  of  whales.  We 
lowered  off  the  notable  Cape  itself,  when  in  sight 
of  the  islands  called  Diego  Ramirez.  Although 
so  near  to  that  formidable  out-jutting  barrier 
of  Nature,  between  two  great  oceans,  which  the 
reports  of  weather-beaten  mariners  have  made 
the  abiding-place  of  storms,  it  was  the  loveliest 
day  we  had  known  since  leaving  the  southern 


His   CAPTORS.  129 

Nocturnal  Heavens.  A  School  of  Sperm  Whales. 

tropic ;  the  sky  cloudless,  the  sun  genially 
warm,  its  place  in  the  heavens  away  off  to  the 
north  of  us,  and  the  ocean  nearly  calm.  The 
short  night,  too,  was  one  of  surpassing  splendor, 
the  whole  southern  hemisphere  lit  up  with  all 
the  glorious  lamps,  never  seen  by  those  who 
dwell  at  the  north,  the  Magellanic  clouds,  and 
the  sightly  constellation  of  the  southern  cross, 
and  a  brilliant  though  small  comet  visible  in 
the  southwest,  its  tail  pointing  upward  to  the 
zenith,  and  about  twice  as  long  as  the  belt  of 
Orion. 

In  the  afternoon  a  school  of  sperm  whales 
passed  us,  making  for  the  Pacific  with  all  the 
speed  of  flukes  and  fins.  They  showed  them- 
selves a  few  minutes  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
off,  and  three  boats  were  soon  lowered  in  pur- 
suit ;  but  they  never  let  us  see  them  again,  it 
being  the  habit  of  the  sperm  whale  to  stay  un- 
der water  much  longer  than  the  right  whale. 
Poor  fellows !  they  will  find  keen  human  ene- 
mies enough  where  they  were  going,  and  not 
unlikely  the  blubber  sides  of  one  or  more  of 
them  are  already  headed  up  in  the  hold  of  some 
ship,  and  biding  their  time  to  fill  honorable 
lamps  with  light  ten  thousand  miles  off. 
I 


130  THE   WHALE   AND 

Up  in  the  Mizzen  Rigging.  Capture  of  a  Calf. 

We  have  felt  the  cold  this  side  the  American 
continent,  in  the  rude  Atlantic,  more  than  ever 
in  that  other  ocean,  which  does  not  belie  its 
name,  or  even  than  at  the  pitch  of  the  Cape,  in 
sixty  degrees  south.  A  few  days  ago,  just  after 
breakfast,  I  had  the  pleasure  of  climbing  the 
mizzen  rigging  to  witness  the  capture  of  our 
first  Atlantic  whale.  The  ocean  was  in  its 
stillest,  loveliest  mood,  its  breast  heaving  only 
like  a  sleeping  infant's ;  the  morning  sun  most 
glorious;  the  sky  without  a  cloud,  and  that 
glimmer  of  reflection  from  the  molten  steel 
mirror  beneath,  which  I  remember  being  so 
much  struck  with  the  first  time  I  ever  saw  the 
sublime  sight  when  a  boy. 

The  two  whales  proved,  as  was  thought,  to 
be  a  cow  and  a  yearling  calf,  perhaps  a  steer 
of  the  second  year.  They  were  putting  their 
heads  together  as  in  love,  or  to  rub  off  the  crab- 
lice  and  barnacles  that  adhere  by  millions  to 
the  top  and  sides  of  their  heads.  The  calf  was 
soon  struck,  and  made  little  ado  of  being  killed, 
not  going  into  a  flurry,  or  sounding  long,  or 
making  the  water  foam,  fly,  or  splintering  the 
cedar  with  strokes  of  his  tail,  and  "  spilling  the 
men,"  as  they  sometimes  do. 


His   CAPTORS.  131 

Dimensions  of  a  Cub.  A  Marine  Wonder. 

The  one  thought  to  be  the  dam  prudently 
made  off  a  mile  and  a  half  to  windward,  while 
we  got  the  cub  alongside  the  ship  about  eleven 
o'clock.  His  proportions  were  respectable  for 
a  youngling — thirty-nine  feet  long  and  nineteen 
feet  round  ;  his  head  seven  feet  from  its  tip  to 
the  spout-holes,  and  three  feet  wide  just  behind 
the  same,  and  three  feet  thick  to  the  inside 
roof.  The  thickest  of  the  blubber  was  eight 
inches.  His  fins  were  each  five  feet  long,  and 
he  was  six  feet  across  the  throat.  They  rifled 
him  of  his  blubber  and  bone  in  the  way  already 
described,  and  some  time  before  evening  the 
refuse  scrap-matter  of  his  blubber  was  burning 
brightly  under  the  try-works,  and  affording  all 
the  fuel  for  trying  out. 

Just  after  sundown  that  evening,  while  we 
were  lying  to,  and  the  try- works  were  blazing, 
there  was  seen  going  slowly  by  the  ship,  a  rod 
or  two  off,  a  large  sun-fish.  The  captain  cau- 
tiously lowered  his  boat,  and,  paddling  lightly, 
was  up  with  him,  and  had  effectually  darted 
his  cruel  iron  before  danger  was  suspected. 
Finding  it  impossible  to  hoist  him  into  the 
boat  or  warp  him  along,  they  made  fast  anoth- 
er iron,  and  came  to  the  ship  with  the  tow-line, 


132  THE    WHALE   AND 

Sun-fish  Described.  Chowder  Fore  and  Aft. 

which  the  men  at  once  reeved  round  a  block, 
and  soon  merrily  hauled  him  in,  singing  the 
while  a  sailor's  song. 

We  found  our  prize  a  singular-looking  ich- 
thyological  wonder  as  ever  was  seen.  His  form 
is  that  of  an  ellipse,  or  like  an  elliptical  shield, 
about  four  and  a  half  feet  in  the  longest  diam- 
eter, three  feet  across,  and  one  foot  thick.  His 
mouth  is  small  and  round,  like  a  sea-porcu- 
pine's, and  sucking  constantly  with  great  force 
like  a  sucker.  His  eye  is  large  as  a  bullock's, 
and  very  prominent.  He  has  two  curious  fins 
to  scull  with — one  on  his  belly,  or  one  rim  of 
the  ellipse,  the  other  on  his  back,  or  the  other 
rim  of  the  ellipse — and  a  sort  of  steering  oar  in 
the  middle  of  one  of  the  sides.  He  moves  edge- 
wise through  the  water.  He  is  covered  to  the 
depth  of  three  or  four  inches  on  both  sides  with 
a  white  elastic  case,  like  the  meat  of  a  cocoa- 
nut,  and  very  much  resembling  the  sturgeon's 
nose  that  boys  put  into  balls  to  make  them 
bounce  well. 

Under  this  case  lies  some  excellent  white 
meat,  which  has  been  dug  out  and  served  up 
into  very  fine  chowder,  and  has  supplied  all 
hands,  fore  and  aft,  with  several  excellent  meals, 


His   CAPTORS.  133 

Losing  a  Right  Whale.  Taking  and  Saving  a  Sperm. 

that  relish  nobody  can  tell  how  that  has  not 
been  as  long  at  sea  without  any  thing  fresh. 
The  liver  of  this  sun-fish  contains  a  large  quan- 
tity of  yellow  oil,  which  is  thought  to  be  excel- 
lent as  an  external  unguent  or  embrocation  for 
the  rheumatism. 

The  next  morning  our  captain  made  fast  to 
another  much  larger  right  whale,  turned  him 
up  dead  about  half  past  ten,  after  a  hard  fight, 
and  in  less  than  twenty  minutes  the  huge  car- 
cass sunk  bodily,  with  all  the  irons  in  it — a 
dead  loss  of  more  than  a  thousand  dollars, 
which  could  easily  have  been  prevented,  had 
there  been  buoys  or  floats  to  have  bent  on  to 
harpoons,  and  darted  into  him  as  soon  as  dead. 

A  few  days  after  this  mortifying  event,  we 
had  much  better  success  in  the  capture  of  a 
large  bull  whale,  of  the  sperm  kind,  worth  to 
the  ship  at  least  twenty-five  hundred  dollars. 
The  captain's  boat  was  also  fast  to  another, 
that  ran  off  very  swiftly  upon  being  struck, 
along  with  the  rest  of  the  school,  making  the 
deep  to  boil  like  a  pot,  and  terrifying  all  his 
comrades  by  the  extravagant  and  mad  antics 
which  the  prickings  of  those  cruel  irons  natu- 
rally goaded  him  to.  They  would  have  been 


134  THE    WHALE    AND 

Sperm  Whale  Lanced.  Sperm  Whale  Left. 

glad  enough,  I  have  no  doubt,  to  help  their 
brother  whale  in  his  pilikia^  and  as  it  was  they 
greatly  endangered  the  lives  of  all  his  pursuers. 
But  after  being  lanced  several  times,  and  drag- 
ging the  lone  boat  quite  out  of  sight  from  the 
mast-head,  and  tiring  them  all  out,  he  was  cut 
loose  from,  and  left  with  two  harpoons  buried 
in  his  blubber  sides.  They  will  probably  prove 
the  death  of  him  in  a  few  days,  and  waste  his 
oil  upon  the  ocean  like  thousands  before. 

I  was  feeling  not  a  little  anxiety  for  the  cap- 
tain and  boat's  crew,  pursuing  thus  alone  and  out 
of  sight,  amid  a  horde  of  infuriated  and  fright- 
ened whales,  all  the  time  fastened  to  one  of  them 
by  those  great  harpoons,  and  momently  liable 
to  be  struck  and  upset.  It  was  a  pleasurable 
relief  to  hear  them  announced  from  the  mast- 
head as  returning,  though  I  could  not  help  pity- 
ing that  they  should  have  to  come  back  with 
only  their  labor  for  their  pains ;  and,  when 
seemingly  in  the  very  arms  of  victory,  after  all 
the  hazard  and  toil  of  the  chase,  to  be  com- 
pelled to  abandon  the  lawful  prize,  which  per- 
haps an  hour's  longer  holding  to  would  have 
made  all  their  own.  But  such,  time  and  again, 
is  a  whaleman's  fortune.  To  him,  emphatically, 


His  CAPTORS.  135 

Concord  of  Whales.  A  Lesson  for  Man. 

There's  many  a  slip 
'Tween  the  cup  and  the  lip. 

From  the  conduct  of  those  whales,  from  what 
I  have  before  observed,  and  from  what  others 
that  know  tell  me,  it  is  evident  that  the  societies 
of  these  great  sea  monsters  seldom  go  to  war, 
but  live  together  in  cordial  and  happy  amity, 
and  render  each  other  all  the  help  in  their  power 
when  in  distress.  They  read  to  predatory  and 
contentious  man  the  same  lesson  that  Milton 
derives  from  the  concord  of  the  fallen  angels  : 

O  shame  to  men !  devil  with  devil  damn'd 
Firm  concord  holds ;  men  only  disagree 
Of  creatures  rational,  though  under  hope 
Of  heavenly  grace ;  and,  God  proclaiming  peace, 
Yet  live  in  hatred,  enmity,  and  strife 
Among  themselves,  and  levy  cruel  wars, 
Wasting  the  earth,  each  other  to  destroy : 
As  if  (which  might  induce  us  to  accord) 
Man  had  not  hellish  foes  enow  besides, 
That,  day  and  night,  for  his  destruction  wait. 


136  THE   WHALE   AND 

Misery  finds  Company.  Getting  into  a  Gam. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

EPISODES    IN    THE    FORTUNES    OF    WHALEMEN. 

There  she  lies !  there  she  lies ! 

Like  an  isle  on  ocean's  breast ; 

"Where  away?"  west  southwest, 

Where  the  billows  meet  the  skies. 

Port  the  helm  !  trim  the  sail ! 

Let  us  chase  this  mighty  whale.—  Whaler's  Song. 

FI1HE  mortifying  event  referred  to  in  the 
-*•  last  chapter  of  losing  our  whale  by  sink- 
ing, after  all  the  toil  and  hazard  incurred  in 
its  capture,  is  paralleled  only  by  a  like  occur- 
rence in  the  fortunes  of  another  whaleship  on 
these  very  False  Banks  some  two  or  three  years 
ago,  which  I  will  give,  partly  in  the  words  of 
one  who  was  himself  an  actor  in  the  scene  de- 
scribed, being  one  of  the  hands  in  the  captain's 
boat. 

Upon  getting  into  a  "gam"  of  whales,  this 
boat,  together  with  that  of  one  of  the  mates, 
pulled  for  a  single  whale  that  was  seen  at  a 
distance  from  the  others,  and  succeeded  in  get- 
ting square  up  to  their  victim  unperceived.  In 


His   CAPTORS.  137 

Grounding  on  a  Whale's  Back.  A  Round  Turn. 

a  twinkling  the  boat-steerer  sprang  to  his  feet, 
and,  as  he  darted  his  second  harpoon,  the  bow 
of  the  boat  grounded  on  the  body  of  the  whale, 
but  was  instantly  "  sterned  off,"  and  before  the 
whale  had  sufficiently  recovered  from  his  sur- 
prise to  show  fight,  the  "  cedar"  was  out  of  the 
reach  of  his  flukes. 

The  captain,  who  now  took  his  place  in  the 
bow  of  the  boat,  seized  his  lance,  and  the  oars- 
men again  shot  the  boat  ahead,  but  before  he 
could  plunge  the  lance  the  whale  pitched  down 
and  disappeared.  The  line  attached  to  the  har- 
poon, being  of  great  length,  is  coiled  very  care- 
fully and  compactly  in  a  large  tub  in  the  cen- 
tre of  the  boat ;  from  thence  it  passes  to  the 
stern,  and  around  a  post  called  the  loggerhead, 
firmly  secured  to  the  frame  of  the  boat ;  and  it 
is  used  for  checking  the  line  by  friction  as  it 
runs  out,  a  "  round  turn"  being  taken  for  that 
purpose.  From  the  loggerhead  the  line  passes 
along  the  whole  length  of  the  boat  between  the 
men,  and  leads  out  through  a  notch  in  the  bow 
to  the  harpoons,  two  of  which  are  always  at- 
tached to  the  line's  end. 

Soon  as  the  whale  disappeared,  the  line  com- 
menced running  through  the  tub  so  rapidly, 


138  THE   WHALE   AND 

Sparks  from  Loggerhead.     Line  Foul.      Captain  Overboard. 

that,  as  it  rubbed  around  the  loggerhead,  sparks 
of  fire  flew  from  it  in  a  stream.  As  the  differ- 
ent coils  run  from  the  tub,  they  sometimes, 
when  not  well  laid  down,  get  "  foul"  or  tan- 
gled, in  which  case  there  is  great  danger,  for, 
in  attempting  to  clear  it,  a  turn  will  get  by  ac- 
cident around  an  arm  or  a  leg.  As  any  one 
can  see,  there  is  little  hope  for  the  unhappy  man 
thus  entangled,  for,  unless  the  line  be  cut  in- 
stantly, either  the  limb  is  lost  or  the  man  goes 
overboard. 

A  few  years  since,  one  of  the  most  active  and 
energetic  of  our  whaling  captains  was  thus  tak- 
en overboard  by  the  line,  and  had  the  singular 
good  fortune  to  survive  to  tell  the  story.  The 
whale  was  sounding  very  swiftly  when  the  line 
became  entangled.  The  boat-steerer,  who  was 
at  his  post  in  the  stern  of  the  boat,  tending 
the  line,  instantly  threw  the  turn  off  the  log- 
gerhead, and  the  tangled  part  ran  forward  and 
caught  in  the  bow.  The  captain  was  seen  to 
stoop  to  clear  it,  and  then  at  once  disappear- 
ed.  The  boat-steerer  seized  the  hatchet,  which 
is  always  at  hand,  and  chopped  the  line,  witl: 
the  faint  hope  that  when  it  slackened  the  cap- 
tain could  extricate  himself. 


His   CAPTORS.  139 

Body  Recovered.  Animation  Restored. 

The  accident  being  so  sudden  and  dreadful 
as  almost  to  stupify  the  amazed  crew,  neither 
of  them  spake  a  word,  but  each  eye  was  fixed 
upon  the  sea  with  fearful  interest.  Several 
minutes  had  elapsed,  and  the  last  hope  was  expir- 
ing, when  an  object  was  seen  to  rise  to  the  sur- 
face a  short  ways  from  the  boat,  which,  though 
exhibiting  no  sign  of  animation,  was  speedily 
reached,  and  the  body  of  the  captain,  apparent- 
ly lifeless,  was  lifted  into  the  boat.  It  was  evi- 
dent that  vitality  was  not  extinct,  and,  to  the 
joy  of  the  little  crew,  symptoms  of  conscious- 
ness became  visible  in  a  few  minutes,  and  the 
oars  were  lustily  plied  to  reach  the  ship.  By 
means  of  the  usual  remedies,  the  resuscitated 
captain  was  in  a  few  days,  in  his  own  words, 
"  as  good  as  new." 

In  giving  an  account  of  the  accident  and  his 
singular  escape,  he  said  that,  as  soon  as  he  dis- 
covered the  line  had  caught  in  the  bow  of  the 
boat,  he  stooped  to  clear  it,  and  attempted  to 
throw  it  out  from  the  "  chock,"  so  that  it  might 
run  free.  In  doing  this  he  must  have  caught  a 
turn  round  his  left  wrist,  and  felt  himself  drag- 
ged overboard.  He  was  perfectly  conscious 
while  he  was  rushing  down,  down,  with  un- 


140  THE   WHALE   AND 

The  Captain's  Story.  How  Released. 

known  force  and  swiftness ;  and  it  appeared  to 
him  that  his  arm  would  be  torn  from  his  body, 
so  great  was  the  resistance  of  the  water.  He 
was  well  aware  of  his  perilous  condition,  and 
that  his  only  chance  for  life  was  to  cut  the  line. 
Bat  he  could  not  remove  his  right  arm  from  his 
side,  to  which  it  was  pressed  by  the  force  of  the 
element  through  which  he  was  drawn. 

When  he  first  opened  his  eyes,  it  appeared 
as  if  a  stream  of  fire  was  passing  before  them  ; 
but  as  he  descended  it  grew  dark,  and  he  felt  a 
terrible  pressure  on  his  brain,  and  a  roaring  as 
of  thunder  in  his  ears.  Yet  he  was  conscious 
of  his  situation,  and  made  several  efforts  to 
reach  the  knife  that  was  in  his  belt.  At  last, 
as  he  felt  his  strength  failing  and  his  brain  reel- 
ing, the  line  for  an  instant  slackened ;  he  reach- 
ed his  knife,  and  instantly  that  the  line  again 
became  taut,  its  edge  was  upon  it,  and  by  a 
desperate  effort  of  his  exhausted  energies  he 
freed  himself.  After  this  he  only  remembered 
a  feeling  of  suffocation,  a  gurgling  spasm,  and 
all  was  over,  until  he  awoke  to  an  agonizing 
sense  of  pain  in  the  boat. 

But  to  come  back  from  this  digression,  the 
whale  to  which  our  hero's  boat  was  now  fast 


His    CAPTORS.  141 

A  Common  Disaster.  Boat-line  Afoul. 

took  out  a  large  portion  of  the  line  with  great 
rapidity  before  it  was  deemed  prudent  to  check 
it ;  then  an  extra  turn  was  taken  around  the 
loggerhead,  and  the  strain  upon  it  became  very 
great ;  for  the  whale,  continuing  to  descend, 
would  bring  the  bow  of  the  boat  down  till  the 
water  was  just  about  to  rush  over  the  gunwale 
and  fill  it,  when  the  line  would  be  "  surged," 
or  slacked  out. 

Sometimes,  when  the  line  is  nearly  spent, 
and  there  is  great  danger  of  losing  the  whale 
by  having  it  all  run  out,  the  disposition  to  hold 
on  has  been  fatally  indulged  too  far,  and  the 
boat  taken  down.  I  have  heard  of  one  boat 
being  thus  lost  on  the  "  False  Banks,"  and  her 
whole  crew  drowned.  And  very  lately  the 
whaling  bark  Janet,  of  Westport,  lost  her  cap- 
tain and  a  boat's  crew  of  five  men,  they  being 
all  carried  down  and  drowned  by  the  boat-line 
getting  foul  while  they  were  fast  to  a  whale. 

In  the  present  instance,  before  taking  all 
their  line,  the  whale  began  to  ascend,  and  as 
it  became  slackened,  the  line  was  hauled  in, 
"  hand  over  hand,"  by  the  boat's  crew,  and 
coiled  away  by  the  boat-steerer.  The  moment 
the  whale  came  to  the  surface,  "  he  went  smok- 


142  THE   WUALE   AND 

Novel  Mode  of  Travel.  The  Beast  seeks  Company. 

ing  off  like  a  locomotive  with  an  express." 
They  held  manfully  to  the  line,  and  with  oars 
peaked,  ready  to  be  seized  in  a  moment,  they 
dashed  along  in  the  track  of  the  whale.  Had 
they  been  fast  yoked  to  a  team  of  wild  horses 
on  a  plank  road,  their  rate  of  traveling  could 
hardly  have  been  quicker.  Mile-stones,  trees, 
and  rails  were  all  one  in  their  Gilpin  race ; 
and,  Mazeppa-like,  as  they  dashed  along  at  the 
heels  of  the  monster,  they  could  only  see  one 
white  bank  of  foam,  which  rolled  up  before 
them  higher  than  the  bow  of  the  boat,  as  if  it 
would  momently  rush  aboard. 

The  whale,  in  this  instance,  decided  that 
their  ride  should  not  be  altogether  barren  of 
variety,  for  they  soon  found  themselves  rushing 
into  the  midst  of  loose  whales,  who,  having 
been  disturbed  by  the  other  boats,  were  merrily 
fluking  and  snorting  all  around,  and  playing 
their  mad  antics  and  gambols.  The  other 
boats  had  also  fastened,  and  as  their  whale,  too, 
seemed  to  have  a  fondness  for  company,  they 
were  all  in  a  muss  together. 

At  length,  as  the  first  whale  slackened  his 
speed,  they  hauled  up  to  him,  and  the  captain 
darted  his  lance  adroitly,  which  took  effect 


His  CAPTORS.  143 

Finds  an  Enemy.  The  Flurry.  The  Death  Leap. 

The  second  mate,  who  had  kept  as  near  as 
possible  during  the  chase,  now  fastened  with 
his  barbed  irons,  and  whichsoever  way  the  har- 
assed whale  turned,  he  met  an  enemy.  "Weak- 
ened with  the  loss  of  blood,  that  was  now  jetted 
forth  from  his  huge  nostrils  in  torrents,  the 
subdued  monster  soon  became  passive,  and  his 
captors  lay  off  at  safe  distance  to  wait  the  last 
struggle.  This  was  speedily  over  ;  for,  after  a 
few  moments  of  convulsive  writhing,  there  came 
the  final  spasm,  which  is  always  terrible  to  see. 
The  surrounding  waters  were  lashed  into  foam, 
and  all  previous  exhibitions  of  power  were  as 
nothing  compared  with  the  incredible  strength 
put  forth  in  the  flurry. 

At  last,  leaping  almost  clear  from  the  water, 
the  whale  pitched  down  head  foremost,  and  as 
their  lines  tautened,  they  commenced  hauling 
in  hand  over  hand,  expecting  that  he  would 
die  under  water,  and  that  the  body  would  rise 
directly  ;  but  in  this  they  were  deceived.  The 
strain  upon  the  lines  soon  indicated  that  the 
whale  was  sinking,  and  it  was  all  in  vain  they 
endeavored  to  check  its  downward  tendency. 
It  would  sink  like  lead  in  spite  of  all  their 
efforts,  and  they  were  obliged  at  last  to  cut 


144  THE    WHALE   AND 

The  Disappointment.  No  Anomaly. 

the  lines  in  order  to  keep  the  boats  from  going 
down  with  it.  Thus  they  lost  not  only  the 
fruits  of  many  hours  of  severe  toil,  but  a  large 
quantity  of  line  and  the  valuable  harpoons  also, 
besides  the  incalculable  moral  detriment  and 
loss  of  spirits  from  such  a  disappointment. 

Bad  as  this  luck  was,  it  was  not  attended 
with  loss  of  life  like  the  following  I  have  met 
with  in  fragments  of  a  sailor's  journal,  being  a 
contribution  to  "  The  Sheet  Anchor:"  We  were 
cruising,  he  says,  somewhere  between  the  lat- 
itude of  thirty-six  and  thirty-seven  degrees 
south,  and  the  longitude  of  sixty-eight  degrees 
east,  in  search  of  right  whales.  It  was  in  the 
afternoon,  and  the  ship  was  moving  along  un- 
der her  top-gallant  sails  at  the  rate  of  about 
five  knots  the  hour.  The  most  hardened  grum- 
bler could  not  find  fault  with  the  day.  At  the 
fore  and  main  top-gallant  cross-trees  were  two 
men  on  the  look-out  for  whales.  It  was  now 
nearly  four  o'clock,  when  the  man  at  the  main 
sung  out,  "  There  she  blows  !"  He  repeated 
the  cry  regularly  five  or  six  times.  All  was 
now  excitement  among  the  officers  and  men. 
Every  one  was  anxious  to  know  if  it  was  the 
kind  of  whale  we  wanted.  The  mate  hailed 


His   CAPTORS.  145 

• 

Call  all  Hands.  Stand  by  and  Lower. 

the  man  at  the  mast-head,  "  Where  away  is 
that  whale  ?     What  do  you  call  her  ?" 

"  Right  whale,  sir,  on  the  lee  beam,  two 
miles  off ;  look  out  sharp  for  her !" 

"  Sing  out  when  the  ship  heads  for  her !" 

"  Ay,  ay,  sir." 

"  Keep  her  away !"  said  the  captain  to  the 
man  at  the  helm.  "Boy,  hand  me  the  spy- 
glass." "  Steady !"  sung  out  the  man  at  the 
mast-head.  "  Steady  it  is !"  answered  the 
wheel.  The  captain  then  started  to  go  aloft. 
"  Mr.  A.  (to  the  mate),  you  may  square  in  the 
after  yards,  and  then  call  all  hands." 

"  Forward,  there !"  shouted  the  mate.  "  Haul 
the  main-sail  up  and  square  the  yards  !  Bill !" 
(to  an  old  sailor).  «  Sir  ?"  "  Call  all  hands !" 
"  Ay,  ay,  sir.  All  hands,  ahoy !"  shouted  old 
Bill,  in  a  voice  like  a  tempest.  "  Stand  by  the 
boats !"  In  less  than  no  time  the  deck  was 
alive  with  men. 

"  Boat-steerers,  get  your  boats  ready  !"  In 
a  moment,  as  it  were,  the  boats  were  in  readi- 
ness, the  tubs  put  in,  the  lines  bent  on  to  the 
harpoons,  and  the  crews  standing  by,  ready  to 
follow  the  boats  down  to  the  water,  when  the 
word  came  from  the  captain  to  lower  away. 
K 


146  THE   WHALE   AND 

Blood  up  in  the  Chase.  A  Tight  Pull. 

"  There  she  blows !"  sung  out  the  man  at 
the  fore  ;  "not  half  a  mile  off." 

"  Down  helm  !"  shouted  the  captain.  "  Mr. 
A.,  brace  up  the  mizzen  top-sail.  Hoist  and 
swing  the  boats  !  Lower  away  !"  Down  went 
the  boats,  and  down  followed  the  crews.  As 
the  boats  struck  the  water,  every  man  was  on 
his  thwart,  with  his  hand  on  the  loom  of  his 
oar,  and  all  at  once  the  three  boats  were  cut- 
ting their  way  through  the  water  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  whale. 

It  was  my  duty  to  steer  the  mate's  boat,  and 
she  happened  to  be  the' fastest  puller,  so  that, 
although  we  all  left  the  ship  together,  and  for 
a  few  rods  kept  nearly  head  and  head  with  each 
other,  still  we  knew  well  enough  that,  as  soon 
as  the  word  came  from  the  mate  to  "  give 
way,"  we  should  drop  the  others  in  a  moment. 
So  we  did  not  fret  ourselves,  but  kept  cool  for 
a  tight  pull  when  the  whale  should  show  him- 
self on  the  surface  of  the  water  again,  which 
he  did  the  moment  after. 

"  Here  she  is !"  cried  the  mate ;  "  and  not 
over  ten  rods  from  the  boat.  Now,  my  dear 
fellows,  lay  back  hard!  Spring  hard,  I  tell 
you  !  There  she  blows  !  Only  give  way,  my 


His   CAPTORS.  147 

Harpoons  in.  Stern  all !  Takes  to  Sounding. 

boys,  and  she  is  ours  !"  The  boat  bounded 
forward  like  a  thing  of  life.  "  Spring  like  ti- 
gers !"  said  the  mate,  his  voice  sinking  almost 
to  a  whisper.  I  looked  over  my  shoulder  to  see 
what  kind  of  a  chance  I  was  about  to  have,  at 
the  same  time  pulling  at  my  own  oar  with  all 
my  might.  We  were  going  on  her  starboard 
quarter ;  just  the  chance  I  liked  to  fasten  to  a 
whale. 

"  Stand  up !"  shouted  the  mate ;  and  in  a 
moment  I  was  on  my  feet,  and  in  the  next  mo- 
ment I  had  two  harpoons  to  the  hitches  into 
her.  "  Stern  !  stern  all !"  sung  out  the  mate, 
as  he  saw  the  irons  in  the  whale.  "  Come  here, 
my  boy !"  said  he  to  me.  We  shifted  ends ; 
he  to  the  head,  and  I  to  the  stern  of  the  boat. 
The  whale  started  off  like  lightning. 

"Hold  on,  line!"  said  the  mate;  and  away 
we  shot  after  her,  like  an  arrow  from  the  bow. 
The  mate  by  this  time  had  his  lance  ready. 
"  Haul  me  on  to  that  whale  !"  he  shouted ;  and 
all  hands  turned  to  hauling  line,  while  I  coil- 
ed it  away  in  the  stern-sheets.  We  had  got 
nearly  up  to  the  whale  when  she  took  to  sound- 
ing, taking  the  line  right  up  and  down  from  the 
head  of  the  boat.  I  had  two  turns  of  the  line 


148  THE   WHALE   AND 

Something  not  looked  for.  The  sudden  Catastrophe. 

round  the  loggerhead,  and  was  holding  on  as 
much  as  the  boat  would  bear,  when,  all  at  once, 
another  large  whale,  that  we  knew  nothing 
about,  shot  up  out  of  the  water  nearly  her  whole 
length,  in  a  slanting  position,  hanging  directly 
over  the  boat.  I  threw  off  the  turns  from  the 
loggerhead,  and  shouted  to  the  men  to  "  stern." 
But  it  was  of  no  use  ;  she  fell  the  whole  length 
of  her  body  on  the  boat. 

I  heard  a  crash !  and,  as  I  went  down,  I  felt 
a  pressure  of  water  directly  over  my  head, 
caused,  as  I  thought,  by  the  whale's  flukes  as 
she  struck.  How  long  I  was  under  water  I 
know  not ;  but  I  remember  that  all  looked  dark 
above  me,  and  that  I  tried  very  hard  to  shove 
my  head  through  in  order  to  breathe.  At  last 
I  succeeded ;  but  what  a  sight  was  that  on 
which  I  gazed  when  I  found  myself  on  the  sur- 
face of  the  water !  About  a  rod  off  was  the 
whale  that  we  were  fast  to,  thrashing  the  water 
into  a  foam  with  his  flukes,  the  ocean  red  with 
blood,  and  the  crimson  streams  pouring  from 
the  wounds  in  the  whale's  sides  made  by  the 
harpoons.  In  another  direction  I  could  see 
pieces  of  the  boat  floating  around.  At  the  dis- 
tance of  two  or  three  miles,  I  could  occasional- 


His   CAPTORS.  151 

Every  Man  for  Himself.        Limbs  Broken.        Man  Missing. 

ly  get  a  glimpse  of  the  ship  as  I  rode  on  the 
top  of  a  swell,  and  not  a  human  being  in 
sight. 

Not  losing  heart  or  hope,  I  struck  out  for  a 
piece  of  the  stern  of  our  once  beautiful  boat  a 
few  rods  distant.  The  crew  came  up  one  after 
another,  catching  at  any  thing  they  could  see 
to  help  keep  them  afloat.  One  poor  fellow  came 
paddling  along  with  two  or  three  oars  under 
him,  crying  out  that  his  back  was  broken.  An- 
other of  the  crew  and  myself  got  him  on  a  piece 
of  the  boat  that  we  had  hold  of.  His  thigh  was 
broken,  and  he  could  not  move  his  legs  at  all. 

The  second  mate  soon  after  picked  us  up  in 
his  boat,  and  so  much  had  we  been  engaged  in 
looking  out  for  ourselves,  that  we  did  not  per- 
ceive one  of  our  number  was  missing.  But 
alas !  it  was  too  soon  found  out.  He  was  a 
young  man,  about  seventeen  years  old,  and  did 
not  belong  to  the  boat,  but  went  in  the  place 
of  the  midship  oarsman,  who  was  sick  at  the 
time.  The  whale  fell  directly  over  him,  and 
probably  killed  him  in  a  moment. 

With  what  feelings  we  pulled  around  and 
around  the  spot  where  the  boat  was  stoven,  un- 
willing to  believe,  even  after  we  knew  there 


152  THE   WHALE   AND 

Feelings  of  the  Survivors.      The  Heart  under  the  Pea  Jacket. 

was  no  hope,  that  our  shipmate  was  gone,  never 
more  to  return  !  How  silently  we  glided  along- 
side of  the  ship,  and  hoisted  in  our  other  poor 
shipmate,  now  lamed  for  life  ! 

"  Ah,  that  some  of  those  people  who  look 
upon  sailors  as  little  better  than  brutes,  and 
who  know  little  or  nothing  of  the  kind  feelings 
and  strong  affections  that  are  hid  under  their 
rough  outside,  could  have  seen  what  I  saw  on 
board  that  ship.  Even  their  hearts  would  melt ; 
and  they  would  find  it  is  not  always  the  polish- 
ed and  educated,  the  smooth-faced  and  hand- 
some man,  that  has  the  warmest  heart  or  the 
most  generous  feelings.") 

How  true  is  all  this,  and  how  often  has  it 
been  proved  in  my  own  intercourse  with  sea- 
men. Under  many  a  rough,  pea-jacket  bosom 
there  beats  a  heart,  which  you  will  be  feeling 
long  for,  and  be  slow  in  finding  under  the  pur- 
ple, and  silks,  and  satins  of  fashion  and  frivoli- 
ty. The  poet  Burns  knew  it  when  he  sang  so 
sweetly : 

The  heart  aye's  the  part,  ay, 

That  makes  us  right  or  wrang : 
Nae  treasures,  nor  pleasures, 

Could  make  us  happy  lang. 
It's  no  in  titles  nor  in  rank ; 
It's  no  in  wealth  like  Lon'on  bank. 


His   CAPTORS.  153 


Truth  to  Nature  and  Philosophy  in  the  Poet  Burns. 

To  purchase  peace  and  rest : 
It's  no  in  making  muckle  mair, 
It's  no  in  books ;  its  no  in  lear, 

To  make  us  truly  bless'd. 
If  happiness  hae  not  her  seat 

And  center  in  the  breast, 
We  may  be  wise,  or  rich,  or  great, 

But  never  can  be  bless'd. 


154  THE   WHALE  AND 


Carcass  of  a  Spermaceti.  Dental  Equipments. 


CHAPTER  X. 

CONQUEST  AND  DISPOSAL   OF   A   BULL  WHALE. 

Ye  gentlemen  of  England,  that  live  at  home  at  ease, 
Ah,  little  do  ye  think  upon  the  dangers  of  the  seas ! 

Ocean  Song. 

I  love  thee— when  I  see  thee  stand, 

The  Hope  of  every  other  land : 

A  sea-mark  in  the  tide  of  Time, 

Rearing  to  heaven  thy  brows  sublime. 

I  love  thee — when  I  contemplate 

The  full-orb'd  grandeur  of  thy  state : 

Thy  laws  and  liberties,  that  rise, 

Man's  noblest  works  beneath  the  skies ; 

To  which  the  Pyramids  are  tame, 

And  Grecian  temples  bow  their  fame.— MONTGOMERY. 

Brazil  Banks,  Atlantic  Ocean,  off  the  Rio  de  la  Plata. 

are  just  now  at  work  upon  the  carcass 
of  a  bull  whale  lately  captured,  a  gen- 
uine makrocephalus,  which  I  have  found  by 
measurement  to  be  sixty  feet  long  and  thirty 
feet  round.  His  lower  jaw-bone  is  sixteen  feet 
long,  and  it  has  forty-eight  large  teeth,  some  of 
them  a  foot  long,  three  of  which  are  broken  off, 
and  others  much  worn.  There  are  also  several 


His   CAPTORS.  155 

Scars  from  the  Wars.  Battering  Ram  of  the  Head. 

very  large  scars  on  the  outside  of  the  jaw,  and 
sundry  other  marks  upon  his  person,  that  show 
him  to  have  been  in  the  wars.  All  these  things, 
and  the  way  in  which  he  slued  his  flukes  when- 
ever the  boat  came  near,  were  thought  by  his 
captors  to  prove  him  an  old  cruiser  in  these 
seas,  and  to  have  known  a  whale-boat,  and,  not 
unlikely,  to  have  had  a  taste  of  cold  iron  before. 
It  would  seem,  indeed,  as  if  there  could  be  very 
few  sperm  whales  in  the  ocean  of  age,  that  have 
not  been  some  time  or  other  chased  by  a  whaler, 
and  their  numbers  are  getting  so  greatly  re- 
duced that  the  sperm  whale-fishing  alone  will 
not  be  much  longer  attempted. 

What  goes  under  the  name  of  the  sperm 
whale's  head  is  nearly  one  third  of  the  mon- 
ster's length.  It  is  customary  to  sever  this  en- 
tirely at  first,  and  let  it  tow  astern,  while  the 
rest  of  the  carcass  is  being  stripped  of  its  very 
valuable  blubber.  Utterly  unlike  the  right 
whale,  which  has  no  teeth,  the  head  of  a  sperm 
whale  is  square,  the  end  of  it  something  like 
the  largest  mill-log  ever  seen,  sawed  off  straight. 
It  is  truly  a  prodigious  mass  of  organized,  com- 
pact matter,  with  which  this  animal  has  been 
known  sometimes  to  butt  like  a  ram  against 


156  THE    WHALE    AND 

A  Study  for  the  Phrenologist.  The  Whale's  Craniology. 

the  sides  of  a  ship  and  break  it  to  pieces.  They 
often  go  in  this  way  "  head  on"  to  boats,  but 
are  generally  pricked  off  and  turned  with  a 
lance,  or  dexterously  avoided. 

From  what  may  be  called  the  top  of  the 
forehead  to  the  roof  of  the  mouth  of  this  square- 
faced  sui  generis  monster,  it  measured  nine  feet 
in  a  straight  line,  and  there  was  a  correspond- 
ing breadth  and  depth  of  forehead,  so  that,  with 
its  prodigious  volume  of  brain  (head  matter), 
and  so  large  a  facial  angle,  the  bust  of  this 
creature  is  most  favorably  commended  to  the 
fingers  of  phrenologists.  Is  it  not  a  little  sur- 
prising, that  in  the  researches  of  comparative 
phrenology  the  cranium  of  the  great  sperm 
whale  should  be  overlooked  ? 

For  the  matter  of  room,  a  phrenologist  might 
keep  shop  in  it,  and  light  it  up,  if  he  chose,  with 
its  own  brains,  and  there  point  out  to  visitors 
by  the  lamp-light  the  places  in  the  walls  and 
ceiling  where  the  different  organs  lay.  It  would 
be  like  a  painter  at  Rome  who  should  open  his 
studio  in  the  Parthenon ;  the  celestial  gods 
would  be  eying  him  from  the  ceiling ;  deified 
men  and  the  infernals  would  be  looking  on  him 
from  all  around.  And  if  the  aforesaid  phrenol- 


His   CAPTORS.  157 

Jaw.  Junk.  Case.  White  Horse. 

ogist  and  the  favored  artist  should  not  alike  be- 
come masters,  under  circumstances  so  impos- 
ing, it  would  be  nobody's  fault  but  their  own. 

But  to  finish  the  disposal  of  our  present  prize : 
the  lower  jaw,  with  the  teeth  all  in  it,  was  first 
separated  by  the  sharp  spades,  in  the  hands  of 
the  officers,  from  the  head,  and  hoisted  in  upon 
deck ;  then  the  upper  jaw  was  separated  from 
the  mass  of  crown,  forehead,  and  brains;  then 
what  whalers  call  the  junk,  or  the  mighty  mass 
of  blubber,  separated  from  the  case,  which  is  the 
name  they  give  to  the  brain-pan,  ivhite  horse, 
integuments,  and  flesh  of  the  head.  The  junk 
was  hoisted  in  on  deck,  weighing  I  will  not  say 
how  many  thousand  pounds.  The  former  cap- 
tain of  this  ship  on  another  voyage  found  a 
large  barnacle  in  the  center  of  a  sperm  whale's 
junk,  that  must  have  got  there  in  the  same 
way  that  stones,  and  deers'  horns,  and  toads 
get  into  the  solid  heart  of  trees,  by  being  lodged 
in  the  bark  and  then  overgrown  by  it. 

When  old  Captain  Bunker,  of  New  Bedford, 
of  whom  almost  every  body  has  heard,  was  on 
a  cruise  in  the  ship  Howard,  in  north  latitude 
thirty  degrees  thirty  minutes,  and  east  longi- 
tude one  hundred  and  fifty-four  degrees,  he 


158  THE  WHALE  AND 

Captain  Bunker's  lost  Harpoon.  Where  Lodged. 

threw  a  harpoon  into  a  large  whale.  But  the 
whale  was  not  captured,  and  the  harpoon  of 
course  lost.  It  was  about  five  years  afterward, 
that,  being  precisely  in  the  same  latitude,  and 
east  longitude  one  hundred  and  forty,  he  made 
fast  to  a  noble  whale,  and  after  a  hard  struggle 
succeeded  in  getting  him  alongside.  And  lo ! 
when  cutting  him  up,  a  harpoon,  rusted  off  at 
the  shank,  was  found  fast  anchored  in  the  old 
fellow's  "  cut- water."  "  Hallo  !"  said  Captain 
Bunker,  jesting,  "  here  is  my  missing  old  iron." 
What  he  said  in  joke  proved  to  be  very  truth, 
for  the  blubber-kept  harpoon  was  the  identical 
one  he  had  lost  five  years  before,  having  on  it 
the  ship's  name  and  his  own  private  mark. 

But  to  come  back  to  our  great  subject  of  dis- 
section now  in  hand,  the  case  was  raised  par- 
tially out  of  water,  so  as  to  keep  the  waves  from 
washing  into  it,  and  an  incision  was  then  made 
through  the  membrane  of  one  of  the  ventricles 
of  the  head,  into  which  they  are  now  letting 
down  great  buckets  as  into  a  well,  dipping  them 
full  of  pure  sperm,  and  whipping  it  up  into  hogs- 
heads. It  has  a  slight  rose  tint,  and  looks  like 
ice  cream  or  white  butter  half  churned.  There 
will  be  about  fifteen  barrels  of  these  brains(?) 


His    CAPTORS.  159 

Bailing  the  Brain.  Banquet  for  Birds  and  Sharks. 

alone  (it  turned  out  sixteen),  and  ninety  or  nine- 
ty-five barrels  of  oil  in  all.  The  sea  has  been  all 
white  on  that  side  the  ship  with  the  spermaceti 
and  blubber  that  have  escaped.  Thousands  of 
albatrosses,  gulls,  and  haglets  have  more  than 
got  their  fill,  so  that  they  fly  heavily  and  with 
difficulty,  and  will  probably  have  to  spend  three 
or  four  days,  if  not  weeks,  in  digestion,  like  the 
sloth.  Sperm  whalers  are  provided  with  large 
scoops,  by  which,  in  good  weather,  they  save  a 
great  deal  of  what  we  are  losing,  some  of  the 
boys  being  out  in  a  boat  to  dip  it  up. 

The  boat-steer ers  have  been  down  upon  the 
carcass  four  times  to  secure  hooks  and  haw- 
sers into  the  great  holes  they  cut  in  the  blubber 
from  above.  Eight  or  ten  sharks  are  prowling 
round,  of  the  picked-nose  kind,  some  of  them 
eight  and  nine  feet  long.  They  will  come  right 
up  on  to  the  whale's  body  with  a  wave,  bite  out 
great  pieces  of  flesh,  turn  over  on  to  their  bellies, 
and  roll  off.  Several  of  them  have  been  har- 
pooned, and  two  have  gone  off  with  irons  in 
their  backs,  that  do  not  seem  to  annoy  them 
any  more  than  a  little  splinter  in  the  thumb  of 
a  wood  sawyer. 

The  tenacity  with  which  the  shark  holds  to 


160  THE   WHALE   AND 

Tenacity  of  Life  in  the  Shark.          Credible  Tales  of  Sailors. 

life,  or,  rather,  life  to  the  shark,  is  astonish- 
ing, and  hardly  to  be  credited  by  one  who  has 
not  himself  observed  it.  We  have  caught  a 
number  on  this  passage  for  their  skin,  which, 
cleansed  and  dry,  is  an  excellent  substitute  for 
sand-paper,  much  used  in  whale  ships  to  smooth 
and  polish  the  various  things  they  make  up  out 
of  whale's  bone  and  teeth.  One  that  we  hauled 
upon  deck,  after  it  was  cut  open,  and  the  heart 
and  all  the  internal  viscera  were  removed,  would 
still  flap  and  thrash  with  its  tail,  and  try  to  bite 
it  off.  The  heart  was  contracting  for  twenty 
minutes  after  it  was  taken  out  and  pierced  with 
the  knife.  And,  from  what  I  have  myself  seen, 
I  could  not  ridicule  or  deny  a  story  that  one 
has  told  me  of  a  shark's  being  known  to  swim 
off,  upon  being  thrown  overboard,  after  it  was 
opened,  gutted,  and  had  its  tail  chopped  off. 
Sailors  don't  like  them  a  bit,  but  kill  them 
whenever  they  can ;  and  there  is  little  wonder, 
considering  they  are  so  likely  to  be  themselves 
eaten  by  this  greedy  ranger  through  the  paths 
of  the  sea. 

To  have  done  with  our  whale,  it  remains  to 
finish  bailing  the  case,  and  to  cut  out  the  blub- 
ber of  the  junk  from  the  part  of  it  called  "white 


His   CAPTORS.  161 

Labor  and  Painstaking  of  Whalemen.  Oily  Processes. 

horse"  which  is  a  tough,  stringy,  and  slightly 
elastic  substance  interposed  with  it,  that  con- 
tains little  or  no  oil,  and  is  as  good  as  a  cotton 
bale  to  shield  a  sperm  whale's  head  from  blows. 
Then  follows  the  trying  out,  stowing  down, 
overhauling,  and  coopering  again  the  hogsheads 
of  this  valuable  fluid,  which  they  on  land,  who 
are  turning  night  into  day  by  means  of  its  clear 
light,  little  know  the  hazard  and  labor  of  Amer- 
ican whalemen  in  procuring.  At  the  comple- 
tion of  the  voyage  this  oil  will  be  drawn  from 
the  casks,  and,  after  a  process  of  boiling  and 
cooling,  will  be  put  into  vats  with  a  strainer 
which  detains  the  spermaceti  mixed  with  oil. 

It  is  then  a  yellow  viscous  substance,  which 
is  afterward  put  into  strong  canvass  bags,  and 
subjected  to  a  screw  press,  and  next  to  the 
pressure  of  the  hydraulic  engine,  whereby  the 
oily  matter  is  all  expelled,  leaving  the  sperma- 
ceti in  hard,  concrete  masses.  This,  after  boil- 
ing with  potash  and  purifying,  is  molded  into 
those  beautiful  oilless  candles  which  are  sold 
under  the  name  of  spermaceti. 

The  first  manufactory  of  sperm  candles  in 
America  was  started  in  Rhode  Island  in  1750, 
by  one  Benjamin  Crab,  an  Englishman.  By 
I, 


162  THE    WHALE   AND 

Sperm  Caudle  Manufactories.  American  Industry. 

the  year  1761  there  were  eight  in  New  En- 
gland and  one  in  Philadelphia.  Owing  to  the 
increased  influx  of  sperm,  by  reason  of  the  en- 
ergetic and  widely-extended  prosecution  of  the 
sperm  whale  fishery,  the  number  of  spermaceti 
candle  manufactories  is  now  greatly  increased. 
In  1834  it  was  estimated  that  there  were  sixty 
of  them  constantly  in  operation,  and  the  quan- 
tity of  sperm  candles  then  made  was  three 
millions  of  pounds. 

For  the  well-deserved  commendation  of  this 
branch  of  American  industry,  all  persons  in 
any  way  connected  with  it  will  be  as  pleased 
as  we  in  the  Commodore  Preble  have  been  at 
the  way  in  which  New  England  enterprise  was 
toasted  at  the  New  England  Society's  last  din- 
er  in  New  York.  There  is  an  account  of  the 
Anniversary  of  the  Pilgrims'  Landing,  and  the 
festivities  of  the  occasion,  in  a  paper  to  which 
we  have  been  treated  from  an  outward-bound 
whale  ship  just  fallen  in  with.  How  greedily 
we  have  devoured  it,  none  but  a  news-hungry 
whaleman  knows.  "  New  England  enterprise  : 
It  grapples  with  the  monsters  of  the  Pacific 
to  illuminate  our  dwellings,  and  with  the  prob- 
lems of  science  to  enlighten  our  minds." 


His   CAPTORS.  163 

New  England  Enterprise.  Hopeful  Future. 

Now  if  the  lines  of  commercial  enterprise 
can  be  only  kept  from  parting  with  the  rectilin- 
ear of  moral  propriety  and  the  law  of  God, 
our  career  of  greatness  as  a  nation  is  clear  and 
glorious.  The  great  future  is  before  us,  full  of 
hope,  if  old  Puritan  principles  be  only  at  the 
head  with  modern  New  England  enterprise. 

Far,  like  the  comet's  way  through  infinite  space, 
Stretches  the  long,  untraveled  path  of  light 
Into  the  depth  of  ages  :  we  may  trace,  afar, 
The  brightening  glories  of  its  flight, 
Till  the  receding  rays  are  lost  to  human  sight. 


I  love  thee ;  next  to  Heaven  above, 
Land  of  my  fathers  !  thee  I  love ; 
And  rail  thy  slanderers  as  they  will, 
With  all  thy  faults,  I  love  thee  still. 

I  love  thee  when  I  hear  thy  voice 
Bid  a  despairing  world  rejoice, 
And  loud  from  shore  to  shore  proclaim, 
In  every  tongue,  Messiah's  name  ; 
That  name  at  which,  from  sea  to  sea, 
All  nations  yet  shall  bow  the  knee. 


164  THE    WHALE    AND 

The  other  Side.  A  moving  Incident. 


CHAPTER   XL 

AUTHENTIC   TRAGEDIES  AND  PERILS   OF   THE  WHAL- 
ING  SERVICE. 

At  length  his  comrades,  who  before 
Had  heard  his  voice  in  every  blast, 
Could  catch  the  sound  no  more. 
For  then,  by  toil  subdued,  he  drank 
The  stifling  wave,  and  then  he  sank. 
And  he,  they  knew,  nor  ship  nor  shore, 
Whate'er  they  did,  should  visit  more. 

COWPER'S  Castaway. 

TN  this  Daguerreotype  gallery  of  Life  and  Ad- 
-*-  ventures  in  a  Whale  Ship,  it  is  but  fair  that 
our  late  experience  of  the  bright  side  of  whale- 
men's fortune,  in  the  safe  capture  and  stowing 
down  of  a  noble  hundred-barrel  spermaceti,  as 
told  in  the  last  chapter,  should  be  set  off  by 
incidents  of  another  character  that  are  equally 
common.  A  writer  in  the  London  Quarterly, 
a  few  years  ago,  described  an  adventure  in  the 
pursuit  of  a  whale,  which,  given  here  for  sub- 
stance with  some  additions,  will  be  read  with 
deep  interest  by  all  who  are  anywise  familiar 


His   CAPTORS.  165 

A.  School  of  young  Bulls.  Harpoon  in  the  Hump. 

with  the  "  hair-breadth  'scapes  and  moving  ac- 
cidents" in  the  ordinary  career  of  whalemen. 

One  of  a  ship's  company  or  officers  in  the 
North  Pacific,  near  the  close  of  a  day  that  had 
been  rather  stormy,  says  that  a  school  of  young 
bull  whales  made  their  appearance  close  to  the 
ship,  and  the  weather  having  cleared  up  a  lit- 
tle, the  captain  immediately  ordered  the  mate 
to  lower  his  boat,  while  he  did  the  same  with 
his  own,  in  order  to  go  in  pursuit  of  them. 

The  two  boats  were  instantly  lowered,  for 
they  were  unable  to  send  more,  having  had  two 
others  "  stove"  the  day  before.  They  soon  got 
near  the  whales,  but  were  unfortunately  seen 
by  them  before  they  could  dart  the  harpoon 
with  any  chance  of  success,  and  the  conse- 
quence was,  that  the  school  of  whales  separa- 
ted, and  went  off  with  great  swiftness  in  differ- 
ent directions.  One,  however,  after  making 
several  turns,  came  at  length  right  toward  the 
captain's  boat,  which  he  observing,  waited  in  si- 
lence for  his  approach,  without  moving  an  oar, 
so  that  the  "  young  bull"  came  close  by  his 
boat,  and  received  the  blow  of  the  harpoon  some 
distance  behind  his  "  hump,"  and  so  near  to  the 
ship  as  to  be  seen  by  all  on  board. 


166  THE   WHALE   AND 

Dragging  to  Windward.  The  Bull  Ambushed. 

The  whale  appeared  quite  terror-struck  for 
a  few  seconds,  and  then  suddenly  recovering 
itself,  darted  off  like  the  wind,  and  spun  the 
boat  so  quickly  round,  when  the  tug  came  upon 
the  line,  that  she  was  within  a  miracle  of  being 
upset.  But  away  they  went,  "  dead  to  wind- 
ward," at  the  rate  of  twelve  or  fifteen  miles  an 
hour,  right  against  a  "  head  sea,"  which  flew 
against  and  over  the  bows  of  the  boat  with  un- 
common force,  so  that  she  at  times  appeared  to 
be  plowing  through  it,  making  a  high  bank  of 
surf  on  each  side. 

The  second  mate,  having  observed  the  course 
of  the  whale  and  boat,  managed  to  waylay 
them ;  and  when  they  came  near  to  him,  which 
they  speedily  did,  "  a  short  warp"  was  thrown, 
and  both  boats  were  soon  towed  at  nearly  the 
same  rate  as  the  captain's  boat  had  been  be- 
fore. 

The  captain  was  now  seen  darting  the  lance 
at  the  whale,  as  it  almost  flew  along,  but  he  did 
not  seem  to  do  so  with  any  kind  of  effect,  as 
the  speed  of  the  whale  did  not  appear  in  the 
least  diminished,  and  in  a  very  short  time  they 
all  disappeared  together,  being  at  too  great  a 
distance  to  be  seen  with  the  naked  eye  from 


His   CAPTORS.  167 

Boats  out  of  Sight.  An  ugly  Night. 

the  deck.  The  officer  ran  aloft,  and  by  the  aid 
of  a  telescope  could  just  discern  from  the  mast- 
head the  three  objects,  like  specks  upon  the 
surface  of  the  ocean.  At  an  alarming  distance, 
he  could  just  observe  the  two  boats,  with  the 
whale's  head  occasionally  darting  out  before 
them,  with  a  good  deal  of  "white  water"  or 
foam,  which  convinced  him  that  the  whale  was 
still  running.  He  watched  with  the  glass  un- 
til he  could  no  longer  trace  them,  even  in  the 
most  indistinct  manner,  and  then  called  to  those 
on  deck  that  they  might  take  the  bearing,  by 
the  compass,  of  the  direction  in  which  he  had 
lost  sight  of  them,  so  that  they  might  continue 
to  "  beat"  the  ship  up  to  that  quarter. 

It  was  now,  says  the  story,  within  half  an 
hour  of  sunset,  and  there  was  every  appearance 
of  the  coming  on  of  an  "  ugly  night ;"  indeed, 
the  wind  began  to  freshen  every  moment,  and 
an  "  awkward  bubble"  of  a  sea  soon  to  make. 
I  remained  aloft  until  I  saw  the  sun  dip,  an- 
gry and  red,  below  the  troubled  horizon,  and 
was  just  about  to  descend,  when  I  was  dread- 
fully shocked  at  hearing  the  loud  cry  of  "  a 
man  overboard  !"  from  all  upon  deck.  I  looked 
astern,  and  saw  with  horror  one  of  our  men,  by 


168  THE    WHALE    AND 


Poor  Berry  Overboard.  The  Kanacker  after  him. 

the  name  of  Berry,  grappling  with  the  waves, 
and  calling  loudly  for  help. 

The  ship  was  soon  brought  round,  but  in 
doing  so  she  unavoidably  passed  a  long  way 
from  the  poor  fellow,  who  still  supported  him- 
self by  beating  the  water  with  his  hands,  al- 
though he  was  quite  unacquainted  with  the 
proper  art  of  swimming.  Several  oars  were 
thrown  overboard  the  moment  after  he  fell,  but 
he  could  not  reach  them,  though  they  were 
near  to  him ;  and  directly  the  ship  brought  up, 
a  Sandwich  Islander,  who  formed  one  of  the 
crew,  leaped  overboard  and  swam  toward  him, 
while  at  the  same  time  the  people  on  deck 
were  lowering  a  spare  boat,  which  is  always 
kept  for  such  emergencies.  I  could  be  of  no 
service,  except  to  urge  their  expedition  by 
many  calls,  for  it  was  only  the  work  of  a  few 
minutes. 

The  good  Sandwich  Islander  struck  out  most 
bravely  at  first,  but,  finding  that  he  was  some 
distance  from  the  ship,  and  being  unable  to  see 
Berry  on  account  of  the  agitated  surface  of  the 
sea,  actually  turned  back  through  fear — find- 
ing, as  he  said,  that  the  "  sea  caps"  went  over 
his  head.  The  men  in  the  boat  now  plied  their 


Boat  returning  from  the  Search  for  Berry. 


His   CAPTORS.  171 

The  Effort.  The  Doubt.  The  Fear.  The  Fate. 

oars  with  all  their  strength,  and  were  making 
rapidly  toward  the  drowning  young  man,  who 
now  and  then  disappeared  entirely  from  view 
under  the  seas  which  were  beginning  to  roll. 
A  sickening  anxiety  pervaded  me,  as  my 
thoughts  seemed  to  press  the  boat  onward  to 
the  spot  where  the  poor  fellow  still  grappled, 
but  convulsively,  with  the  yielding  waters. 

The  boat,  urged  by  man's  utmost  strength, 
sprang  over  the  boisterous  waves  with  consid- 
erable speed,  but  they  arrived  half  a  minute 
too  late  to  save  our  poor  shipmate  from  his 
watery  grave.  I  saw  him  struggle  with  the 
waves  until  the  last,  when  the  foam  of  a  broken 
sea  roared  over  him,  and  caused  him  to  disap- 
pear forever  !  The  boat  was  rowed  round  and 
round  the  fatal  spot  again  and  again,  until 
night  fell,  and  then  she  was  slowly  and  reluct- 
antly pulled  to  the  ship  by  her  melancholy 
crew.  As  they  returned,  the  turbulent  waves 
tossed  them  about  as  if  in  sport,  making  the 
boat  rebound  from  the  beating  and  dashing 
waters  which  flew  against  her  bow. 

The  moment  the  unfortunate  seaman  disap- 
peared, a  large  bird  of  the  albatross  kind  came 
careering  along,  and  alighted  on  the  water  at 


172  THE    WHALE   AND 

The  hovering  Albatross.  Painful  Anxiety. 

the  very  spot  where  the  poor  fellow  was  last 
seen.  It  was  a  curious  circumstance,  and  only 
served  to  heighten  our  horror,  when  we  saw 
the  carnivorous  bird  set  itself  proudly  over  the 
head  of  our  companion  ;  and  which  also  served 
to  remind  us  of  the  number  of  sharks  that  we 
had  so  frequently  seen  of  late,  and  of  the  hor- 
rible propensities  of  which  we  could  not  dare 
to  think. 

By  the  time  we  had  hoisted  in  the  boat  it  was 
quite  dark  ;  the  wind,  too,  had  increased  to  half 
a  gale,  with  heavy  squalls  at  times,  so  that  we 
were  obliged  to  double  reef  our  topsails.  We 
had  lost  one  of  our  men  who  had  sailed  with  us 
from  England,  the  bare  thought  of  which,  in 
our  circumstances,  aroused  a  crowd  of  heart- 
rending ideas.  Our  captain  and  second  mate, 
with  ten  of  the  crew,  had  disappeared,  and  were 
by  that  time  all  lost  or  likely  to  be  so,  in  the 
stormy  night  which  had  set  in  :  being,  too,  sev- 
eral hundred  miles  away  from  land.  We,  how- 
ever, kept  beating  the  ship  to  windward  con- 
stantly, carrying  all  the  sail  she  could  bear, 
making  "  short  boards,"  or  putting  about  every 
twenty  minutes.  We  had  also,  since  night  fell, 
continued  to  burn  lights,  and  we  had  likewise 


His   CAPTORS.  173 

Melancholy  Fancies.  Yearnings  for  Home. 

a  large  vessel,  containing  oil  and  unraveled  rope, 
burning  over  the  stern  rail  of  the  ship  as  a  bea- 
con for  them,  which  threw  out  great  light. 

But,  although  all  eyes  were  employed  in 
every  direction,  searching  for  the  boats,  no  ves- 
tige of  them  could  be  seen ;  and,  therefore,  when 
half  past  nine  P.M.  came,  we  made  up  our 
minds  they  were  all  lost;  and,  as  the  wind 
howled  hoarsely  through  the  rigging,  and  the 
waves  beat  savagely  against  our  ship,  some  of 
us  thought  we  could  hear  the  shrieks  of  poor 
Berry  above  the  roaring  storm ;  others  imag- 
ined, in  their  melancholy,  that  they  could  oc- 
casionally hear  the  captain's  voice  ordering  to 
"  bear  up  ;"  while  the  boats  had  been  seen  more 
than  fifteen  times  by  anxious  spirits,  who  had 
strained  their  eyes  through  the  gloom  until 
fancy  robbed  them  of  their  true  speculation, 
and  left  her  phantasmagoria  in  exchange. 

There  were  not  many  on  board  who  did  not 
think  of  home  on  that  dreadful  night ;  there 
were  not  many  among  us  who  did  not  curse 
the  sea  and  all  the  sea-going  avocations,  while 
with  the  same  breath  they  blessed  the  cheerful 
fireside  of  their  parents,  which,  at  that  moment, 
they  would  have  given  all  they  possessed  to  but 


174  THE   WHALE   AND 

Joy  out  of  Despair.  Light  in  the  Darkness. 

see.  But  at  the  moment  despair  was  firmly 
settling  upon  us,  a  man  from  aloft  cried  out 
that  he  could  see  a  light  right  ahead  of  the 
ship,  just  as  we  were  "  going  about,"  by  which 
we  should  have  gone  from  it. 

We  all  looked  in  that  direction,  and  in  a  few 
minutes  we  could  plainly  perceive  it ;  in  a  short 
time  we  were  close  up  with  it,  when,  to  our 
great  joy,  we  found  the  captain  and  all  the  men 
in  the  boats,  lying  to  the  leeward  of  the  dead 
whale,  which  had  in  some  measure  saved  them 
from  the  violence  of  the  sea.  They  had  only 
just  been  able  to  procure  a  light,  having  un- 
fortunately upset  all  their  tinder  through  the 
violent  motion  of  the  boats,  by  which  it  became 
wet,  but  which  they  succeeded  in  igniting  after 
immense  application  of  the  flint  and  steel,  or 
their  lantern  would  have  been  suspended  from 
an  oar  directly  after  sunset,  which  is  the  usual 
practice  when  boats  are  placed  under  such  cir- 
cumstances. 

After  securing  the  whale  alongside,  which  it 
was  feared  they  would  lose  during  the  night, 
from  the  roughness  of  the  weather,  they  all 
came  on  board,  when  the  sudden  end  of  poor 
Berry  was  spoken  of  with  sorrow  from  all  hands, 


His   CAPTORS.  175 

Requiem  for  the  Dead.  Becalmed  among  Icebergs. 

while  their  own  deliverance  served  to  throw  a 
ray  of  light  amid  the  gloom. 

They  thought  of  his  worth,  but  no  words  found  birth, 

To  tell  of  the  love  they  bore  him  ; 
But  the  sea-bird's  wail,  and  the  stormy  gale, 

And  the  roar  of  the  ocean  wave, 
Sung  deep  and  long  the  funeral  song 

O'er  the  seaman's  traceless  grave. 

In  this  connection,  it  is  not  unsuitable  to  give 
place  to  what  an  accredited  writer  in  the  West- 
minster Review  relates  of  an  incident,  or,  rather, 
a  dread  tragedy  in  the  Greenland  whale-fishery, 
which  is  almost  too  appalling  and  unparalleled, 
not  to  say  impossible,  to  be  believed  : 

One  serene  evening  in  the  middle  of  August, 
1775,  Captain  Warrens,  the  master  of  a  Green- 
land whale  ship,  found  himself  becalmed  among 
an  immense  number  of  icebergs,  in  about  sev- 
enty-seven degrees  of  north  latitude.  On  one 
side  and  within  a  mile  of  his  vessel,  these  were 
of  immense  height,  and  closely  wedged  together, 
and  a  succession  of  snow-covered  peaks  appear- 
ed behind  each  other  as  far  as  the  eye  could 
reach,  showing  that  the  ocean  was  completely 
blocked  up  in  that  quarter,  and  that  it  had 
probably  been  so  for  a  long  period  of  time.  Cap- 
tain Warrens  did  not  feel  altogether,  satisfied 


176  THE   WHALE   AND 

Changes  to  a  Gale.  Ice-broken  Earners. 

with  his  situation  ;  but,  there  being  no  wind,  he 
could  not  move  one  way  or  the  other,  and  he 
therefore  kept  a  strict  watch,  knowing  that  he 
would  be  safe  as  long  as  the  icebergs  continued 
in  their  respective  places.  About  midnight  the 
wind  rose  to  a  gale,  accompanied  by  thick  show- 
ers of  snow,  while  a  succession  of  thundering, 
grinding,  and  crashing  noises  gave  fearful  evi- 
dence that  the  ice  was  in  motion. 

The  vessel  received  violent  shocks  every  mo- 
ment, for  the  haziness  of  the  atmosphere  pre- 
vented those  on  board  from  discovering  in  what 
direction  the  open  water  lay,  or  if  there  actual- 
ly was  any  at  all  on  either  side  of  them.  The 
night  was  spent  in  tacking  as  often  as  any  case 
of  danger  happened  to  present  itself,  and  in  the 
morning  the  storm  abated,  and  Captain  War- 
rens found,  to  his  great  joy,  that  his  ship  had 
not  sustained  any  serious  injury.  He  remark- 
ed with  surprise  that  the  accumulated  icebergs, 
which  had  the  preceding  evening  formed  an  im- 
penetrable barrier,  had  been  separated  and  dis- 
engaged by  the  wind,  and  that  in  one  place  a 
canal  of  open  sea  wound  its  course  among  them 
as  far  as  the  eye  could  discern. 

It  was  two  miles  beyond  the  entrance  of  this 


His   CAPTORS.  177 

Curiosity  excited.  An  appalling  Discovery. 

canal  that  a  ship  made  its  appearance  about 
noon.  The  sun  shone  brightly  at  the  time,  and 
a  gentle  breeze  blew  from  the  north.  At  first 
some  intervening  icebergs  prevented  Captain 
Warrens  from  distinctly  seeing  any  thing  but 
her  mast ;  but  he  was  struck  with  the  strange 
manner  in  which  her  sails  were  disposed,  and 
with  the  dismantled  aspect  of  her  yards  and 
rigging.  She  continued  to  go  before  the  wind 
for  a  few  furlongs,  and  then,  grounding  upon 
the  low  icebergs,  remained  motionless.  Cap- 
tain Warrens's  curiosity  was  so  much  excited 
that  he  immediately  leaped  into  his  boat  with 
several  seamen  and  rowed  toward  her. 

On  approaching,  he  observed  that  her  hull 
was  miserably  weather-beaten,  and  not  a  soul 
appeared  on  the  deck,  which  was  covered  with 
snow  to  a  considerable  depth.  He  hailed  her 
crew  several  times,  but  no  answer  was  return- 
ed. Previous  to  stepping  on  board,  an  open 
port-hole  near  the  main  chains  caught  his  eye, 
and  on  looking  into  it,  he  perceived  a  man  re- 
clining back  in  a  chair,  with  writing  materials 
on  a  table  before  him,  but  the  feebleness  of  the 
light  made  every  thing  very  indistinct.  The 
party  went  upon  deck,  and  having  removed  the 
M 


178  THE   WHALE   AND 

The  Living  Dead.  Horrible  Disclosure. 

hatchway,  which  they  found  closed,  they  de- 
scended to  the  cabin. 

They  first  came  to  the  apartment  which  Cap- 
tain Warrens  viewed  through  the  port-hole.  A 
tremor  seized  him  as  he  entered  it.  Its  inmate 
retained  its  former  position,  and  seemed  to  be 
insensible  to  strangers.  He  was  found  to  be  a 
corpse,  and  a  green  damp  mold  had  covered 
his  cheeks  and  forehead,  and  veiled  his  eye-balls. 
He  had  a  pen  in  his  hand,  and  a  log-book  lay 
before  him,  the  last  sentence  in  whose  unfinish- 
ed page  ran  thus :  "  November  llth,  1762.  We 
have  now  been  inclosed  in  the  ice  seventeen 
days.  The  fire  went  out  yesterday,  and  our 
master  has  been  trying  ever  since  to  kindle  it 
again  without  success.  His  wife  died  this 
morning.  There  is  no  relief." 

Captain  Warrens  and  his  seamen  hurried 
from  the  spot  without  uttering  a  word.  On  en- 
tering the  principal  cabin,  the  first  object  that 
attracted  their  attention  was  the  dead  body  of  a 
female,  reclining  on  a  bed  in  an  attitude  of  deep 
interest  and  attention.  Her  countenance  re- 
tained the  freshness  of  life,  and  a  contraction  of 
the  limbs  alone  showed  that  her  form  was  inani- 
mate. Seated  on  the  floor  was  the  corpse  of  an 


His  CAPTORS.  179 

A  Charnel  Ship.  An  awful  Warning. 

apparently  young  man,  holding  a  steel  in  one 
hand  and  a  flint  in  the  other,  as  if  in  the  act  of 
striking  fire  upon  some  tinder  which  lay  beside 
him.  In  the  fore  part  of  the  vessel  several  sail- 
ors were  found  lying  dead  in  their  berths,  and 
the  body  of  a  boy  was  crouched  at  the  bottom 
of  the  gangway  stairs. 

Neither  provisions  nor  fuel  could  be  discover- 
ed any  where ;  but  Captain  Warrens  was  pre- 
vented, by  the  superstitious  prejudices  of  his 
seamen,  from  examining  the  vessel  as  minute- 
ly as  he  wished  to  have  done.  He  therefore 
carried  away  the  log-book  already  mentioned, 
and  returning  to  his  own  ship,  immediately 
steered  to  the  southward,  deeply  impressed  with 
the  awful  example  which  he  had  just  witness- 
ed of  the  danger  of  navigating  the  polar  seas  in 
high  northern  latitudes. 

On  returning  to  England,  he  made  various 
inquiries  respecting  vessels  that  had  disappear- 
ed in  an  unknown  way,  and  by  comparing  these 
results  with  the  information  which  was  afford- 
ed by  the  written  documents  in  his  possession, 
he  ascertained  the  name  and  history  of  the  im- 
prisoned ship  and  of  her  unfortunate  master, 
and  found  that  she  had  been  frozen  in  thirteen 


180  THE  WHALE  AND 

Fact  the  Ground  of  Fancy.  Not  an  Improbability. 

years  previous  to  the  time  of  his  discovering 
her  imprisoned  in  the  ice. 

If  this  strange  tale  be  true,  we  see  that  Cole- 
ridge's wonderful  Rime  of  the  Ancient  Mari- 
ner may  not  be  all  fancy,  but  may  have  a  sub- 
stantial basis  of  fact.  Witness  the  following 
verses,  eliminated  from  it  here  and  there : 

And  now  there  came  both  mist  and  enow, 

And  it  grew  wondrous  cold ; 
And  ice,  mast  high,  came  floating  by, 

As  green  as  emerald. 

And  through  the  drifts  the  snowy  clifts 

Did  send  a  dismal  sheen  ; 
Nor  shapes  of  men  nor  beasts  we  ken — 

The  ice  was  all  between. 

The  ice  was  here,  the  ice  was  there, 

The  ice  was  all  around  ; 
It  cracked  and  growled,  and  roared  and  howled, 

Like  noises  in  a  swound ! 

Alone,  alone,  all,  all  alone, 

Alone  on  a  wide,  wide  sea ! 
And  never  a  saint  took  pity  on 

My  soul  in  agony. 

I  closed  my  lips,  and  kept  them  close, 

And  the  balls  like  pulses  beat ; 
For  the  sky  and  the  sea,  and  the  sea  and  the  sky, 
Lay  like  a  load  on  my  weary  eye, 

And  the  dead  were  at  my  feet. 

The  cold  sweat  melted  from  their  limbs, 

Nor  rot  nor  reck  did  they : 
The  look  with  which  they  looked  on  me 

Had  never  passed  away. 


His   CAPTORS.  181 


Coleridge's  Magic  Rime  of  the  Ancient  Mariner. 

All  stood  together  on  the  deck, 

For  a  charnel  dungeon  fitter ; 
All  fixed  on  me  their  stony  eyes, 

That  in  the  moon  did  glitter. 

But  soon  I  heard  the  dash  of  oare, 

I  heard  the  pilot's  cheer ; 
My  head  was  turned  perforce  away, 

And  I  saw  a  boat  appear. 

The  pilot  and  the  pilot's  boy, 

I  heard  them  coming  fast! 
Dear  Lord  in  Heaven !  it  was  a  joy 

The  dead  men  could  not  blast. 

The  boat  came  closer  to  the  ship, 

But  I  nor  spake  nor  stirred  ; 
The  boat  came  close  beneath  the  ship, 

And  straight  a  sound  was  heard. 

Stunned  by  that  loud  and  dreadful  sound, 

Which  sky  and  ocean  smote, 
Like  one  that  hath  been  seven  days  drown'd 

My  body  lay  afloat, 
But  swift  as  dreams,  myself  I  found 

Within  the  pilot's  boat. 

O  wedding  guest !  this  soul  hath  been 

Alone  on  a  wide,  wide  sea : 
So  lonely  'twas,  that  God  himself 

Scarce  seemed  there  to  be. 

Farewell,  farewell !  but  this  I  tell 

To  thee,  thou  wedding  guest ! 
He  prayeth  well  who  loveth  well 

Both  man,  and  bird,  and  beast. 

He  prayeth  best  who  lovsth  best 

All  things  both  great  and  small ; 
For  the  dear  God  who  loveth  us, 

Ho  made  and  loveth  all. 


1S2  THE   WHALE   AND 

Brazil  Banks.  A  Barnacled  Whale  Ship. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

YARNS    FROM    THE    EXPERIENCE    OF    OLD    WHALE- 
MEN. 

Row  !  row !  row ! 

In  our  vessel  she  must  go, 

Over  the  broad  Pacific's  swell, 

Round  Cape  Horn,  where  tempests  dwell ; 

Many  a  night  and  many  a  day, 

Hence  with  us  she  must  away, 

Till  we  joyful  hail  once  more 

Old  Nantucket's  treeless  shore.—  Whaler's  Song. 

Brazil  Banks,  latitude  24°  S.,  longitude  40°  W. 

SOME  few  years  ago,  in  the  same  region  of 
ocean  where  we  are  now  cruising,  and 
about  the  same  month  of  the  year,  an  old 
weather-worn  and  barnacled  whale  ship  was 
working  slowly  along  on  a  wind,  homeward 
bound,  or  after  another  sperm  whale,  if  one 
should  heave  in  sight.  Her  try-works  were 
sending  up  a  smoke  black  as  night  in  huge  vol- 
umes, for  they  were  trying  out  an  eighty-bar- 
reler  not  long  taken. 

The  deck  was  lined  with  casks,  and  the  main 
hatches  off,  men  engaged  in  the  blubber-room 


His   CAPTORS.  183 

In  working  Dress.  Ready  for  a  Run. 

cutting  up  the  blanket  pieces  into  horse  pieces,, 
ready  for  mincing ;  others  piking  the  pieces 
from  one  tub  to  another,  ready  for  the  mincers ; 
some  tending  the  fires,  some  filling  up  casks 
with  hot  oil  from  the  cooler ;  every  man  busy, 
and  each  at  his  place,  but  the  decks  confusedly 
strown  with  barrels,  and  tubs,  and  whaling  gear, 
like  a  street  with  goods  in  it  after  a  fire. 

All  at  once,  says  an  old  whaler,  in  a  yarn  of 
random  recollections  of  his  youth,  all  at  once, 
a  voice  clear  as  the  lark,  and  to  the  ear  of  the 
whaleman  far  sweeter,  rang  through  the  ship, 
THERE  SHE  BLOWS  !  Again  and  again  it  is  re- 
peated, at  regular  intervals.  Now  the  captain 
hails  the  mast  head :  "  Where  away  is  that 
whale,  and  what  do  you  call  her  ?" 

"  Sperm  whale,  sir,  three  points  on  the  weath- 
er bow,  not  over  two  miles  off." 

"  Get  your  boats  ready ;  slack  down  the  fires ; 
and  stand  by  to  lower  away  !" 

The  boats'  crews  each  stand  by  their  own 
boat,  some  of  the  men  help  put  in  the  tub  of 
line,  others  lay  down  the  boat-tackle  falls  in 
such  a  way  that  they  will  run  clear.  The  boat- 
steerer  bends  on  his  harpoons,  the  gripes  are 
cast  clear  of  the  boats,  and  now  comes  the  word, 


184  THE   WHALE   AND 

Lower  away !  Flukes  Peaked.  Game  up. 

"  Hoist  and  swing !"  In  a  moment  the  boats 
are  hanging  by  their  tackles,  and  clear  of  the 
cranes,  ready  for  the  word  " Lower  away!'' 
The  mates,  in  the  mean  time,  were  aloft,  watch- 
ing the  movements  of  the  whale,  in  order  to 
judge  how  to  pull  for  her. 

Now  comes  the  word,  "  Lower  away !"  In  a 
moment  all  the  boats  are  off,  and  in  chase  at  a 
good  speed,  in  order  to  see  who  will  be  up  with 
the  whale  first.  However,  at  this  time,  it  did 
not  make  so  much  difference  which  boat  pulled 
the  best,  as  the  whale  peaked  her  flukes  and 
went  down  before  any  boat  came  up  with  her. 
Now  each  boat-header  uses  his  own  judgment 
as  to  where  the  whale  will  come  up  next,  for 
a  sperm  whale  is  almost  always  going  some 
when  she  is  down  or  under  water.  The  whale 
was  gone  an  hour,  when  we  caught  sight  of 
the  signal  at  the  main,  which  said  plainly  that 
the  whale  was  up.  All  eyes  gaze  eagerly 
around  in  all  directions  for  the  whale. 

"  There  she  is,"  cries  one  of  the  men,  "  not 
twenty  rods  from  the  chief  mate's  boat !  There, 
he  sees  her !" 

"  Down  to  your  oars,  lads !"  said  the  captain, 
in  whose  boat  I  was.  "  Give  way  hard !"  Now, 


His   CAPTORS.  185 


Captain's  Soliloquy.  An  old  Chap. 

then,  the  little  boat  jumps  again,  sending  the 
spray  in  rainbows  from  the  bow.  "  Spring 
hard,  my  dear  fellows ;  if  she  blows  a  dozen 
times  more,  the  mate  will  fasten.  There  she 
blows  !  Oh,  she's  a  beauty  !  a  regular  old  sog ! 
a  hundred-barreler  !  There  she  lays  like  a  log ! 
Oh,  what  a  hump  !  There  she  blows  !  Stand 
up,  David !  (the  name  of  the  mate's  boat-steerer.) 
There  goes  one  iron  into  her,  and  there  he-  gives 
her  the  second  one ;  he  is  fast  solid.  Now, 
then,  my  boys,  let  us  be  up  among  the  suds. 
Stand  up !"  shouted  the  captain  to  me,  as  he 
laid  his  boat  square  on  to  her.  In  goes  two 
more  harpoons,  and  our  boat  is  fast. 

I  thought  I  had  seen  large  sperm  whales, 
but  this  old  chap  beat  them  all ;  he  cut  and 
thrashed  with  his  flukes  a  while,  but  did  not 
take  to  sounding  or  running,  as  some  whales 
do.  The  mate  pulled  up  to  lance  him ;  but, 
let  him  go  on  as  he  would,  the  whale  would 
head  for  his  boat,  and  prevent  his  getting  a 
chance  at  her  with  his  lance. 

"  Now,  then,  Mr. ,"  said  the  captain  to 

me,  "  you  must  kill  that  whale."  The  captain 
steered  me  this  day,  as  he  had  done  several 
times  before,  as  we  were  short  of  a  boat-steerer. 


186  THE   WHALE   AND 

Lancing  Deep.  Rising  Quick.  Sudden  Expulsion. 

We  pulled  up  to  her,  and  I  set  my  lance  into 
her  life,  as  I  thought,  the  whole  length  ;  she 
spouted  a  little  thin  blood.  "  You  are  not  low 
enough,"  said  the  captain ;  "set  your  lance 
lower  down ;  this  fellow  is  deep,  and  you  must 
lance  lower." 

The  whale  settled  away  under  water  after 
she  felt  the  lance,  and  I  kept  a  look-out  for  her, 
expecting  she  would  break  water  near  the  head 
of  the  boat.  Pretty  soon  I  saw  her  whiten 
under  water,  and  got  my  lance  ready  as  soon 
as  she  should  come  to  the  surface ;  the  next 
moment  I  was  flying  in  the  air,  and  a  moment 
after  was  several  fathoms  under  water.  The 
whale  came  up  head  foremost,  hitting  the  boat 
a  tremendous  knock  under  my  feet,  sending  me 
all  flying.  The  captain  at  the  same  time 
grabbed  his  steering  oar,  and  overboard  he 
went  also. 

Fortunately,  I  could  swim  well,  and  soon 
came  up  to  blow ;  but  I  had  hardly  time  to 
spout,  before  I  found  that  I  was  in  a  very  dis- 
agreeable situation.  Putting  out  my  arm  to 
swim,  I  hit  the  whale  on  his  head,  and  at  the 
same  time  saw  the  boat  three  or  four  rods  from 
me.  I  confess  I  did  not  feel  exactly  right ;  but 


His  CAPTORS.  187 

Liable  to  be  Left.         Hard  Swimming.          Mending  Holes. 

it  was  no  use  for  me  to  lay  still,  and  be  picked 
up  like  a  squid;  so  I  made  a  regular  shove 
off  with  my  feet  against  the  whale's  head,  and 
struck  out  for  the  boat.  I  saw  that  all  was 
confusion  in  the  boat,  and  that  the  men  did  not 
notice  me  at  all.  I  had  on  thick  clothes,  and 
found  it  hard  swimming.  Finally  one  of  the 
men  saw  me,  and  stopped  the  boat,  which  some 
of  them  were  steering  away  from  me  as  fast  as 
they  could. 

As  I  got  in  at  the  bow,  I  saw  the  captain 
come  over  the  stern.  "  Hallo !"  said  he,  "  where 
have  you  been  to?"  "  After  the  whale,"  said 
I.  "  And  I  have  been  after  you,"  said  the  cap- 
tain. We  had  a  good  laugh,  wrung  our  hair, 
and  started  for  the  whale  again.  She  lay  still, 
with  her  jaws  open,  and  head  toward  the  boat; 
the  rest  of  her  body  was  under  water,  so  that 
she  gave  no  chance  to  kill.  We  lay  still,  watch- 
ing her  motions.  All  at  once  she  let  her  jaws 
fly  back,  striking  the  boat  in  the  bow,  and 
smashing  a  hole  through  her.  The  boat  began 
to  fill;  but,  fortunately,  we  had  a  jacket  ready, 
and  stopped  the  hole  up,  and  so  we  kept  from 
filling,  and  pulled  up  to  the  whale  again. 

This  time  she  headed  the  mate,  and  lay  her 


188  THB   WHALE   AND 

Fin  out.  Prize  measured.  Yield  of  Oil. 

whole  length  broadside  toward  us.  We  had 
nothing  to  do  but  to  pull  up  and  in  lance,  the 
whale  laying  perfectly  still  all  the  time.  In 
twenty  minutes  she  went  into  her  flurry,  and 
soon  after  lay  fin  out.  We  took  her  alongside 
the  ship,  and  commenced  cutting  her  in ;  but 
it  took  all  the  next  day  to  get  her  all  in.  She 
measured  over  seventy-five  feet  in  length,  and 
between  fifty  and  sixty  feet  round  the  largest 
part  of  the  body  ;  her  jaw  was  seventeen  and 
a  half  feet  long,  and  her  flukes  seventeen  feet 
broad.  She  stowed  us  down  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  barrels  of  sperm  oil. 

In  the  vicissitudes  of  whaling  fortune,  a  prize 
like  this  now  and  then  offers  itself  to  a  ship,  in 
the  form  of  a  dead  whale  afloat.  Such  a  for- 
tunate wind-fall  once  came  to  the  Cremona,  of 
New  Bedford,  in  1839,  while  cruising  on  the 
coast  of  Peru,  in  the  latitude,  of  three  degrees 
south.  Her  master  there  fell  in  with  two  whal- 
ing ships  belonging  to  the  same  port  Being 
old  acquaintances,  they  were  happy  to  see  each 
other — compared  notes — talked  of  old  times; 
and  whales  being  in  sight  all  around,  although 
rather  shy,  they  agreed  to  keep  company  for 
the  night,  hoping  for  good  luck  on  the  morrow. 


His   CAPTORS.  189 

Three  Whalers  in  a  Gam.  Indian  Look-out. 

At  early  dawn  the  mast  heads  were  manned, 
and  the  horizon  carefully  scanned  in  every  di- 
rection; and  the  survey  increased  in  interest 
and  care  as  the  hour  of  sunrise  drew  nigh.  But 
no  whales  were  in  sight. 

The  wind  was  light,  and  they  packed  on  all 
sail,  steering  to  the  northward,  in  company  with 
the  ships  they  had  fallen  in  with  the  day  be- 
fore— the  Orion  being  about  five  miles  distant, 
broad  off  on  the  weather  bow,  and  the  Lupin 
about  three  points  under  the  lee — not  more  than 
two  or  three  miles  off.  Being  in  the  northeast 
trade  winds,  and  standing  along  to  the  north- 
ward, they  all,  of  course,  had  the  starboard 
tacks  on  board. 

On  board  the  Cremona,  said  her  captain,  in 
giving  this  account,  we  had  our  mast  heads 
doubly  manned ;  and  at  the  main-top-gallant- 
head  was  stationed  Webquish,  a  smart,  active 
Gay  Head  Indian,  who  was  a  faithful  sentinel  on 
such  occasions,  with  a  restless  eye,  and  a  keen- 
ness of  vision  seldom  surpassed  by  any  of  his 
race.  All  hands  were  on  deck,  and  expectation 
was  exhibited  in  the  grave  demeanor  and  semi- 
smiling  countenances  of  the  crew. 

It  was  about  nine  o'clock  in  the  forenoon  that 


190  THE   WHALE   AND 

Something  in  the  Wind.  A  notable  Discovery. 

Webquish,  the  Indian,  who  had  been  looking 
steadily  in  one  direction  for  some  minutes, 
called  out  that  he  saw  some  object  afloat  away 
to  windward.  It  was  bobbing  up  and  down, 
and  looked  something  like  a  boat,  but  he  could 
not  tell  what  it  was. 

This  excited  the  curiosity  of  every  man  on 
board ;  and,  as  is  usual  in  such  cases,  all  made 
a  spring  into  the  rigging,  with  a  view  to  run 
aloft,  and  get  a  squint  at  the  mysterious  object 
reported  by  Webquish.  But  I  ordered  them  to 
remain  on  deck,  and  sent  up  my  first  mate — a 
man  of  good  judgment  and  sharp  eyes — with  a 
spy-glass,  to  the  fore-top-mast-head.  He  soon 
got  sight  of  the  object,  and  immediately  report- 
ed that  it  was  a  large  dead  spermaceti  whale. 

This  was  an  event,  the  announcement  of 
which  created  quite  a  sensation  on  board  the 
Cremona ;  and  the  question  asked  of  each  other 
was,  whether  we  could  secure  it  for  ourselves? 
In  order  to  do  this,  it  was  necessary  not  only  to 
see  it  first,  but  to  get  fast  to  it  first !  From 
the  favorable  position  of  the  Orion,  being  to 
windward,  it  was  clear  that  the  whale  would 
inevitably  fall  a  prize  to  her,  if  it  should  be  seen 
by  the  look-out  before  it  could  be  reached  by 


His   CAPTORS.  191 

Needs  Contrivance.  Throwing  Dust  in  the  Eyes. 

our  boats.  It  was  a  matter  which  required  a 
little  management. 

I  directed  my  mate,  Mr.  Hopkins,  to  come 
down  to  leeward,  and  keep  the  mast  between 
him  and  the  Orion,  that  he  might  not  be  seen 
from  that  ship,  which  might  excite  suspicions 
that  something  was  in  the  wind ;  and,  in  the 
same  manner,  I  went  myself  aloft  to  take  a  look 
at  the  object  to  windward — an  object  of  much 
interest  to  us,  as  it  was  probably  of  great  value. 

The  other  ships  quietly  kept  on  their  course. 
The  Lupin,  being  to  leeward,  could  not  possibly 
see  the  whale ;  and  on  board  the  Orion,  the 
look-out  aloft  seemed  to  be  taking  a  nap,  for 
no  indications  were  given  that  the  whale  was 
seen  from  the  ship.  This  gave  us  hopes  that 
we  might  secure  the  prize ;  and  all  was  anima- 
tion on  board  the  Cremona.  The  mate's  boat, 
being  the  fastest,  was  got  in  readiness,  and  a 
good  coat  of  tallow  was  applied  to  her  bottom — 
a  set  of  the  best  oars  was  selected — and  all  due 
preparation  made  for  a  race. 

For  nearly  an  hour  we  kept  on  our  course, 
occasionally  going  a  little  to  windward,  but  not 
in  a  manner  to  excite  observation.  By  this 
time  the  dead  whale  was  abaft  the  weather 


192  THE   WHALE   AND 

Boat  under  Way.  A  sleepy  Look-out. 

beam.  And  now,  without  heaving  to  or  alter- 
ing the  ship's  course,  the  boat  was  lowered  to 
leeward.  Mr.  Hopkins  and  his  stalwart  and 
eager  crew  stepped  into  it,  seized  their  oars — 
the  word  was  given — and  hurrah,  whiz !  away 
they  darted  toward  the  whale  with  the  swiftness 
of  an  arrow. 

We  watched  the  boat  with  much  interest 
and  no  little  anxiety;  for  even  now,  if  the 
prize  should  be  discovered  from  the  Orion,  that 
ship  would  be  filled  away,  and,  running  down 
before  the  wind,  would  be  able  to  reach  it  be- 
fore Mr.  Hopkins  could  get  fast  to  it  with  his 
harpoon.  And  this  reflection  seemed  to  add 
vigor  to  the  arms  of  the  boat's  crew,  for  they 
pulled  away  heartily — with  a  right  good  will — 
and  forced  the  boat  merrily  through  the  water. 
But  their  fears  were  groundless.  For  nearly 
half  an  hour  they  pulled  with  a  degree  of 
strength  and  skill  seldom  equaled,  and  were 
close  on  board  the  whale,  and  still  neither  the 
whale  nor  the  boat  was  seen  by  the  sleepy 
look-out  on  board  the  Orion ! 

Under  these  circumstances,  I  considered  that 
maneuvering  was  no  longer  necessary,  and 
gave  the  orders  to  tack  ship,  which  enabled  us 


His   CAPTORS.  193 

Mask  thrown  off.  A  worthy  Windfall. 

to  steer  almost  directly  for  the  whale  /  This 
opened  the  eyes  of  the  Orion ;  for  our  yards  were 
hardly  trimmed  before  that  ship  squared  her 
yards,  and  came  running  down  directly  across  our 
track,  and  in  a  few  minutes  the  Lupin  hauled 
her  wind,  and  came  creeping  up  to  windward. 

But  it  was  of  no  use.  The  Orion  was  just 
in  time  to  see  Mr.  Hopkins  strike  his  harpoon 
into  the  whale,  and  take  possession  of  the  prize 
in  the  name  of  the  good  ship  Cremona,  of  New 
Bedford  !  And  it  was  not  long  before  we  had 
the  whale  alongside,  and  forthwith  commenced 
"  cutting  in"  upon  this  noble  specimen  of  the 
class  Mammalia,  which  proved  to  be  an  eighty- 
barrel  whale,  and  was  worth  to  us  twenty-four 
hundred  dollars. 

By  the  time  we  had  made  fast  to  our  prize, 
the  Orion  was  within  speaking  distance.  Evi- 
dently chagrined  at  the  success  of  our  maneu- 
ver, she  lavished  no  compliments  upon  our  en- 
terprise, and  soon  resumed  her  former  course. 
In  about  an  hour  or  so  the  Lupin  came  up  to 
inquire  the  news,  but  soon  made  sail  after  the 
Orion  ;  and  before  night,  both  were  out  of  sight 
to  the  leeward,  and  our  oil  was  mostly  boiled 
out  and  cooling,  to  stow  away  below. 
N 


194  THE   WHALE   AND 

Why  found  Dead.       Recovery  of  sunk  Whales  on  Soundings. 

The  fortunate  captain  of  the  Cremona  thinks 
that  in  this  instance,  and  others  like  it,  the 
whale,  having  been  harpooned  and  deprived  of 
life,  sunk,  we  know  not  why,  and  remained  be- 
low the  surface  until  its  specific  gravity  had 
diminished,  by  the  generation  of  gases  within 
the  animal  tissues,  to  such  a  degree  that  it  rose 
from  indefinite  depths  below. 

Multitudes  of  the  right  whale  sink  immedi- 
ately after  capture,  as  we  have  already  learn- 
ed, and  are  a  dead  loss ;  but  this  is  seldom  the 
case  with  the  sperm  ;  and  the  Cremona's  lucky 
prize  in  this  instance  may  have  been  a  sperm 
whale  that  had  to  be  abandoned  by  some  other 
ship,  after  being  mortally  wounded  and  dying 
on  the  surface,  without  ever  sinking. 

In  what  is  called  shore  whaling,  where  there 
are  soundings,  they  fasten  buoys,  like  as  to  an 
anchor,  to  the  sinking  right  whales,  and  then 
watch  the  spot  or  the  buoy,  till  the  dead  animal 
rises  after  the  expiration  of  two  or  three  days. 
It  is  probable  that  old  age,  reducing  the  whale 
to  leanness,  and  any  other  cause  that  dimin- 
ishes the  animal's  adipose  or  oily  matter,  tends 
to  increase  his  specific  gravity,  and,  consequent- 
ly, the  tendency  to  sink  when  killed. 


His   CAPTORS.  195 

Rival  Whalemen  of  four  Nations  in  chase  of  the  same  Whale. 

A  chase  similar  to  that  described  above,  but 
for  a  living  whale,  once  came  off  in  the  South 
Pacific  between  four  ships  of  different  nations, 
becalmed  together  within  the  neighborhood  of 
a  mile,  English,  French,  Portuguese,  and  Amer- 
ican. The  officers  of  the  American  ship  were 
making  preparation  to  visit  their  English  neigh- 
bors. The  men  were  amusing  themselves  be- 
low, or  loitering  about  the  decks,  when  the  look- 
out on  the  mast  head  gav^ntelligence  of  a  whale 
by  the  exciting  and  familiar  cry  of  "  There  she 
blows  !"  "  There  she  blows  !"  "  Oh,  she's  a 
beauty  !"  "  There  she  blows  again  !" 

"Where  away?"  hailed  the  officer  of  the 
deck. 

"  West  of  south,  heading  east." 

"  How  far,  and  what  is  she  ?" 

"  Three  miles — a  real  sperm,"  was  the  reply. 

The  men  of  the  American  had  not  been  idle 
during  this  dialogue.  As  soon  as  the  first 
"  There  she  blows"  was  heard,  each  man  had 
sprung  to  his  station  in  the  boat.  Stopping 
for  a  moment  to  have  a  keg  of  water  placed  in 
the  stern  sheets,  the  boat-steerer,  who  gives  the 
account,  sprung  into  the  boat,  and,  casting  all 
clear,  they  were  soon  under  weigh.  "  Our 


196  THE    WHALE   AND 

Steering  and  Rowing  at  once.      Portuguese  left  in  the  Rear. 

neighbors  also  had  been  on  the  alert.  A  well- 
manned  boat  from  each  ship  was  in  the  chase. 

"  These  ships  laying  somewhat  in  advance, 
we  found  they  had  the  advantage  of  from  fifteen 
to  forty  rods  the  start  of  us.  Speaking  a  few 
words  of  encouragement  to  the  men,  we  were 
soon  passing  over  the  water  with  a  velocity 
which  is  hardly  conceivable  to  a  landsman. 
The  American  whaleman  is  the  only  man  who 
never  turns  his  head  to  look  while  in  the  chase 
of  a  whale — that  part  belongs  to  the  boat-steer- 
er.  They  are  thus  enabled  to  give  their  whole 
energy  to  the  oar,  laying  themselves  to  the 
work  with  a  hearty  good  will.  Placing  the 
palm  of  my  left  hand  under  the  abaft  oar,  while 
with  my  right  I  guided  the  boat,  and  at  each 
stroke  threw  a  part  of  my  weight  against  it, 
our  boat  would  '  skim  the  water  like  a  thing  of 
life.' 

"  A  few  moments  from  the  start  brought  us 
up  with  the  Portuguese.  The  crews  of  the  dif- 
ferent ships  witnessing  the  chase,  the  excite- 
ment was  tremendous.  Our  shipmates  cheer- 
ed us  as  we  came  up  with  the  first  boat,  and  as 
we  passed,  the  whale  again  made  its  appear- 
ance. Singing  out  to  the  men,  l  There  she 


His   CAPTORS.  197 

Greek  meets  Greek.  John  Bull  and  Brother  Jonathan. 

blows  !  She's  an  eighty -barrel — right  ahead. 
Give  way,  my  boys !'  &c.,  we  were  soon  along- 
side the  Frenchman.  The  Frenchman  was  too 
polite  to  oppose  us,  and  we  passed  him  with 
ease. 

"  The  English  boat  was  now  about  ten  rods 
in  advance,  and  the  whale  about  one  and  three 
fourths  of  a  mile.  Now  came  the  trial.  The 
English  boat  was  manned  by  the  same  number 
of  stout,  active  hands  as  our  own,  and,  seeing 
us  pass  the  other  boats,  their  whole  strength 
and  force  were  put  to  the  oar.  We  gained  on 
them  but  slowly  ;  and  such  was  the  excitement 
of  the  race,  that  we  were  in  danger  of  passing 
over  where  the  whale  had  last  '  blowed.'  At 
this  moment  the  English  boat-steerer  noticed 
the  manner  in  which  I  had  placed  my  left  hand 
and  weight  against  the  oar.  Instantly  laying 
hold  of  his  own  in  like  manner,  his  first  effort 
broke  it  short  at  the  lock.  Thus  disabled,  he 
gave  us  a  hearty  curse,  and  we  shot  past  him 
like  a  meteor. 

"  We  had  been  so  excited  with  the  race  that 
we  had  lost  sight  of  the  whale.  As  luck  would 
have  it,  at  this  instant  she  '  blowed'  but  a  few 
rods  ahead.  In  a  moment  we  were  fast,  and 


198  THE   WHALE   AND 

Whose  is  the  Prize  ?  Romance  of  rival  Whaling. 

1  all  hands  stern.'  Soon  she  was  in  a  ( flurry,' 
and  in  the  course  of  an  hour  we  were  slowly 
returning  to  our  ship.  That  whale  stowed  us 
down  eighty-five  barrels  of  oil,  and  shortened 
our  voyage  two  months." 

It  is  easy  to  see  that  there  must  be  a  thrilling 
excitement  in  the  adventurous  chase  of  game 
like  this,  that  has  a  tinge  of  the  romantic  to 
young  and  eager  minds.  There  was  romance 
surely,  as  well  as  reality,  in  a  whaling  feat  I 
have  read  of,  that  came  off  in  Delego  Bay,  South 
Africa,  a  smooth  nook  of  ocean  much  frequent- 
ed a  few  years  ago  by  whalers  and  ships  from 
different  nations.  A  mammoth  whale  rose  and 
was  observed  in  those  still  waters  at  the  same 
moment,  and  about  equidistant  from  an  Amer- 
ican and  an  EHglish  ship.  From  both  the  boats 
were  lowered,  manned,  and  off  in  an  instant 
with  the  speed  of  the  wind. 

The  English,  at  first  ahead,  perceiving  their 
rivals  gaining  on  them,  wisely  bore  wide  off 
from  their  common  game,  in  order  to  keep  the 
Americans  out  of  reach  of  the  whale.  But  when 
the  two  boats  were  nearly  abreast,  the  English 
of  course  inside,  one  of  the  American  sailors 
sprang  from  his  seat,  and  with  extraordinary 


His   CAPTORS.  201 

Extraordinary  Daring  of  a  Yankee.  What  it  wrought. 

agility  hurled  his  ponderous  harpoon  right  over 
the  English  boat.  Thrown  with  unwonted  force 
and  precision,  it  struck  the  monster  in  a  vital 
part,  and  was  buried  to  the  socket. 

The  English  boat,  thus  strangely  intercepted 
and  balked  of  its  prize,  shrunk  back  under  the 
warp  of  its  Yankee  rival.  The  waves  were 
soon  crimsoned  with  blood,  and  the  daring 
American  took  possession  of  the  mastered  Le- 
viathan, while  Delego  Bay  echoed  and  re-ech- 
oed with  shouts  of  applause. 

All  honor  to  whalemen,  bold  and  brave ! 
We  will  sing  for  them,  in  passing,  Park  Ben- 
jamin's song : 


How  cheery  are  the  mariners — 

Those  lovers  of  the  sea  I 
Their  hearts  are  like  its  yesty  waves, 

As  bounding  and  as  free. 
They  whistle  when  the  storm-bird  wheels 

In  circles  round  the  mast ; 
And  sing  when,  deep  in  foam,  the  ship 

Plows  onward  to  the  blast. 

What  care  the  mariners  for  gales  ? 

There's  music  in  their  roar, 
When  wide  the  berth  along  the  lee, 

And  leagues  of  room  before. 
Let  billows  toss  to  mountain  heights, 

Or  sink  to  chasms  low, 
The  vessel  stout  will  ride  it  out, 

Nor  reel  beneath  the  blow. 


202  THE   WHALE   AND 


Park  Benjamin's  Song  for  the  cheery  Mariner. 

GOD  keep  those  cheery  mariners ! 

And  temper  all  the  gales 
That  sweep  against  the  rocky  coast 

To  their  storm-shattered  sails  ; 
And  men  on  shore  will  bless  the  ship 

That  could  so  guided  be, 
Safe  in  the  hollow  of  His  hand, 

To  brave  the  mighty  sea ! 


His   CAPTORS.  203 

The  Pickle  a  Whaleman  most  loves  to  have  his  Ship  in. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

PECULIAR    VOCABULARY    AND    HAZARDS    OF    WHALE- 
MEN. 

A  perilous  life,  and  hard  as  life  may  be, 

Hath  the  brave  whaleman  on  the  lonely  sea ; 

On  the  wide  water  laboring,  far  from  home, 

For  a  bleak  pittance  still  compelled  to  roam  ; 

Few  friends  to  cheer  him  through  his  dangerous  life, 

Or  strong  to  aid  him  in  the  stormy  strife ; 

Companion  of  the  Sea  and  silent  air, 

The  hardy  whaleman  has  no  envied  fare. — Anon. 

Midway  between  the  False  and  Mam  Banks,  Atlantic  Ocean, 
lat.  34°  30'  S.,  Ion.  47°  W.     Homeward  Bound. 

T  LIKE  the  eagerness  and  activity,  and  can 
-*-  very  well  put  up  with  the  smell  and  dirt 
which  having  dead  whales  alongside  makes  in  a 
whale  ship.  We  are  having  enough  of  it  just 
now.  Though  not  myself  head  and  ears  over  in 
blubber-juice  like  all  the  rest,  nor  in  for  any 
share  of  the  profits,  I  am  taking,  perhaps,  as  cu- 
rious and  eager  an  interest  in  the  process  going 
on  as  any  one  on  board.  All  the  ordinary  muxing 
and  skimshander  with  which  active  ones  keep 
themselves  busy  on  board  whale  ships  when 


204  THE   WHALE    AND 


Matter  for  the  Dictionary.  Divers  kinds  of  Muxing. 

there  is  no  work  to  do,  are  laid  aside  now.  The 
cooper's  driver  is  merry  a-going  on  the  great 
oil  casks;  the  decks  are  cluttered,  and  full  of 
gurry  and  dirt ;  and  every  body  and  every  thing 
is  besmeared  with  oil,  and  will  be  so  until  a 
strong  ley  they  make  from  the  ashes  of  the 
scraps  has  washed  all  clean. 

It  is  almost  worth  taking  one  cruise  in  a 
whale  ship  to  see  how  they  capture  and  dis- 
pose of  their  gigantic  game,  and  to  learn  some 
odd  things  a  man  can  never  know  otherwise. 
Had  Noah  Webster  ever  gone  a  whaling,  he 
would  have  been  able  to  add  some  five  or  six 
notable  and  genuine  English  words  to  his  Dic- 
tionary, which  may  never  be  known  off  salt 
water  unless  we  record  them  here. 

Mux  and  skimshander  are  the  general  names 
by  which  they  express  the  ways  in  which  whale- 
men busy  themselves  when  making  passages, 
and  in  the  intervals  of  taking  whales,  in  work- 
ing up  sperm  whales'  jaws  and  teeth  and  right 
whale  bone  into  boxes,  swifts,  reels,  canes, 
whips,  folders,  stamps,  and  all  sorts  of  things, 
according  to  their  ingenuity. 

Gurry  is  the  term  by  which  they  call  the 
combined  water,  oil,  and  dirt  that  "  cutting  in" 


His   CAPTORS.  205 

New  Material  for  Illustration.  Savory  Comparisons. 

a  whale  leaves  on  deck  and  below.  The  yel- 
lowish stuff 

That  creams  and  mantles  on  a  standing  pool, 

and  affords  such  a  favorite,  nice  comparison, 
ready  to  hand,  and  hackneyed,  for  writers  that 
want  to  express  the  odiousness  of  moral  putres- 
cence and  stagnation,  is  nothing  to  this  sui  ge- 
neris composition  elaborated  in  the  hold  of  a 
whale  ship.  Hereafter,  if  any  one  should  wish 
to  illustrate  morals  by  physicals  in  a  way  par- 
ticularly new  and  original,  let  him  say  that  the 
filth  and  foulness  of  Mr.  So-and-so's  mind,  or 
the  daily  scum  and  dregs  of  Mr.  Slabbering  Ed- 
itor Such  a  One,  or  the  hebdomadal  black  vomit 
of  this  and  that  member  of  the  "  Satanic  Press," 
look  and  smell  like  gurry. 

Gaily,  or  Gallow,  as  it  is  found  in  Shak- 
speare,  is  the  term  by  which  they  express  a 
whale's  being  frightened.  Thus  you  often  hear 
"  that  whale's  gallied,"  as  they  pronounce  it. 

Gam  is  the  word  by  which  they  designate 
the  meeting,  exchanging  visits,  and  keeping 
company  of  two  or  more  whale  ships,  or  a  so- 
ciable family  of  whales.  Thus  we  gammed 
two  days  on  the  New  Zealand  whaling  ground 
with  the  Niantic  of  Sag  Harbor.  One  day  the 


206  THE    WHALE    AND 

A  Treatise  on  Gamming.  Sequel  of  a  Gam. 

captain  of  the  Niantic  spent  with  us,  the  next 
our  captain  spent  on  board  the  Niantic,  the 
boats'  crews  gamming1  together  at  the  same 
time  in  the  forecastle,  and  the  mates  of  the 
ships  meeting  and  having  a  gam  in  the  ship 
that  was  left  of  her  captain. 

These  gams  are  very  pleasant  interludes  in 
a  whaleman's  life,  when  abroad  upon  the  desert 
ocean,  without  change  of  society  or  scene,  a 
thousand  miles  from  land.  It  is  peculiarly 
grateful  for  a  rusty  and  barnacled  old  ship,  that 
has  been  absent  thirty  or  more  months,  to  have 
a  gam  of  a  day  with  a  fresh  competitor  just 
arrived  out  with  all  the  news  from  home.  Such 
a  gam  gives  matter  of  talk  and  old  newspaper 
reading  for  a  month,  and  nobody  can  tell  how 
pleasant  it  is  but  one  that  has  experienced  it. 
A  shipmaster  has  a  chance  to  exchange  coun- 
sel, and  tell  stories,  and  let  himself  be  familiar 
with  somebody  that's  new,  and  he  is  always 
the  milder,  and  better  pleased  with  himself  and 
all  about  him,  for  some  days  after  such  a  gam. 

The  use  of  these  words  is  not  a  little  amus- 
ing at  first  to  a  stranger ;  but  I  have  come  to 
believe  them  as  good  and  veritable  English, 
and  to  have  as  fair  a  claim  to  be  placed  in  our 


His   CAPTORS.  207 

Appalling  Forms  of  Danger  to  be  encountered  by  Whalemen. 

dictionaries  as  a  thousand  words  that  are  spok- 
en oftener  in  ears  polite.  I  like  to  talk  with 
old  whalemen  upon  the  hair-breadth  escapes 
and  perilous  adventures  of  their  hazardous  war- 
fare upon  the  monsters  of  the  deep.  It  is  a 
marvel  that  death,  in  its  most  appalling  forms, 
is  not  oftener  met  with.  Whalers,  I  think, 
have  to  look  danger  more  full  and  steadily  in 
the  face  than  any  other  class  of  men  except 
soldiers. 

Danger,  whose  limbs  of  giant  mold, 
What  mortal  eye  can  fix'd  behold  ? 

Besides  the  multifarious  ordinary  perils  of 
the  sea,  there  is  that  incurred  in  lowering  boats 
so  often  ;  then  the  risk  of  being  run  under  and 
swamped  in  the  lightning-like  speed  and  evolu- 
tions of  a  seventy-foot  whale  immediately  upon 
being  struck  ;  then  the  danger  from  a  whale's 
flukes  and  fins,  as  the  monster  slues  and  slats 
them  round,  and  makes  the  deep  boil  like  a 
pot,  to  the  slightest  tap  of  which  a  whale-boat 
is  hardly  more  than  a  bubble.  Sometimes  the 
mammoth  brute  comes  up  from  the  depths 
right  under  the  boat,  and  takes  it,  with  all  on 
board,  transversely  into  his  huge  mouth,  that 
can  be  opened  sixteen  and  twenty  feet.  To  be 


208  THE   WHALE    AND 

A  Bull-whale  getting  the  Head-ache.     The  fatal  Tap  of  a  Fin. 

sure,  the  monster  does  not  swallow  it,  but  he 
crushes  it  to  pieces  as  if  it  were  an  egg-shell, 
and,  not  unfrequently,  some  of  its  crew  at  the 
same  time,  and  this  is  always  to  be  apprehended. 

Sometimes  a  sperm  whale  will  drive  "  head 
on"  to  his  captors  with  such  a  speed  and  force 
that  they  can  neither  prick  him  off  with  the 
lance  nor  have  time  to  sheer  away.  A  blow 
that  would  beat  in  the  oak  ribs  of  a  man-of-war 
would  hardly,  I  suppose,  give  a  bull- whale  the 
headache.  There  are  two  cases  I  have  heard 
of,  one  in  the  Atlantic  and  one  in  the  Pacific, 
in  which  an  enormous  sperm  whale,  with  mal- 
ice aforethought,  did  thus  run  three  several 
times  full  tilt  against  a  whale  ship,  until  his 
butting  had  battered  in  her  sides,  and  the  men 
had  to  abandon  the  ships  a  thousand  miles  from 
land.  But  three  or  four  survived  the  peril  in 
each  case  and  got  safe  to  land.  One  of  them, 
then  a  boy,  is  now  master  of  a  whale  ship,  still 
grappling  with  dangers,  and  successfully  pros- 
ecuting this  adventurous  trade. 

I  have  known  of  one  captain  who  was  killed 
instantly  in  the  bow  of  his  boat,  by  the  tap  of  a 
whale's  fin  upon  his  skull,  when  no  one  else  was 
at  all  injured.  To  have  legs  and  arms  broken, 


His   CAPTORS.  209 

But  a  Step  between  the  Whaleman  and  Death.      What  then  ? 

ribs  knocked  in,  and  a  whole  crew  scrabbling 
together  in  the  water,  is,  as  we  have  already 
learned,  very  common.  There  are  few  that 
have  been  long  in  the  service  but  have  been 
banged  and  broken  in  some  way,  and  snatched 
often  from  the  gaping  jaws  of  destruction. 
They  can  tell  of  marvelous  escapes  and  provi- 
dential deliverances  from  the  very  throat  of 
death,  that  make  you  think  a  whaler,  of  all 
men,  ought  to  be  living  with  his  will  made, 
and  ready  for  a  sudden  summons. 

We  should  naturally  think  so,  and  that  a 
man's  constant  exposedness  to  sudden  death 
would  give  a  serious  turn  to  his  mind,  and  in- 
duce a  cast  of  reflection  and  thoughtful  regard 
to  his  latter  end.  But  it  is  now  a  long  time 
that  the  practical  observation  of  men  has  taught 
me,  that  familiarity  with  danger  and  death  sel- 
dom produces  a  softening,  monitory  effect,  ex- 
cept upon  the  mind  of  a  Christian,  but  rather 
induces  a  moral  hardness  and  effrontery  that 
steels  the  mind  against  lessons  of  mortality, 
and  sheds  an  ominous  gloom  upon  the  pros- 
pects of  the  soul.  I  have  talked  with  a  good 
many  whalemen  and  common  sailors,  and  have 
observed  the  conduct  of  irreligious  men  in  times 
O 


210  THE   WHALE   AND 

Difference  between  Rational  Conjecture  and  Melancholy  Fact. 

of  fatal  epidemics  and  more  than  ordinary  dan- 
gers, but  I  never  yet  have  met  with  one  per- 
manently reformed  and  brought  to  repentance 
by  seeing  others  drowned  and  die  before  his 
eyes,  and  by  what  would  seem  to  be  the  nat- 
ural consideration  of  danger  in  his  own  case. 

So  true  it  is,  in  the  words  of  the  preacher, 
The  heart  of  the  sons  of  men  is  full  of  evil  ; 
madness  is  in  their  hearts  while  they  live,  and 
after  that  they  go  to  the  dead.  As  the  fishes 
that  are  taken  in  an  evil  net,  and  as  the  birds 
that  are  caught  in  the  snare,  so  are  the  sons 
of  men  snared  in  an  evil  time,  when  it  cometh 
suddenly  upon  them.  As  an  old  poet  hath  it, 

Such  is  the  state  of  every  mortal  wight ' 

In  health  our  glories  and  our  lusts  we  show ; 

We  fill  ourselves  with  every  vain  delight, 

And  will  least  think  of  that  which  may  ensue. 

But  let  us  learn  to  heed  as  well  as  know, 

That  spring  doth  pass,  that  summer  steals  away, 

And  that  the  flower  which  makes  the  fairest  show, 

Ere  many  weeks  may  wither  and  decay. 

The  stoutest  form  that  walks  the  earth  to-day, 

To-morrow  with  the  dead  may  senseless  lay ! 


His   CAPTORS.  211 


Experience  of  the  Royal  Bounty.     Chronic  Chase  of  a  Whale. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

REMARKABLE  EVENTS  IN  THE  ANNALS  OF  WHALING. 

O'er  the  deep !  o'er  the  deep  ! 

Where  the  whale,  and  the  shark,  and  the  sword-fish  sleep : 
On  the  craggy  ice,  in  the  frozen  air, 
Heedless  of  dangers  if  game  be  but  there, 
Encountering  all  the  great  whale  to  snare. — Anon. 

THE  prodigious  speed  and  strength  of  the 
gigantic  whale,  and  the  resulting  danger 
to  his  captors  referred  to,  in  general  terms,  in 
the  last  chapter,  are  practically  illustrated  by 
two  remarkable  incidents,  occurring,  the  one 
in  the  English,  and  the  other  in  the  American 
whale  fishery. 

On  the  28th  of  May,  1817,  the  Royal  Boun- 
ty, an  English  ship,  fell  in  with  a  great  num- 
ber of  whales  in  seventy  degrees  twenty-five 
minutes  north  latitude,  and  longitude  five  de- 
grees east.  There  was  neither  ice  nor  land  in 
sight.  The  boats  were  manned  and  sent  in 
pursuit,  and  after  a  chase  of  five  hours,  one  of 
xthem,  which  had  rowed  out  of  sight  of  the  ship, 


212  THE    WHALE   AND 

Incredible  Brute  Strength.  Hamessing  it  to  the  Ship. 

struck  one  of  the  whales.  This  was  about  four 
o'clock  in  the  morning.  The  captain  directed 
the  course  of  the  ship  to  the  point  where  he  had 
last  seen  the  boats,  and  about  eight  o'clock  got 
sight  of  one,  which  displayed  the  signal  of  being 
fast.  Soon  after,  another  boat  approached  the 
first,  and  struck  a  second  harpoon ;  and  by  mid- 
day two  more  harpoons  were  made  fast. 

But  such  was  the  astonishing  vigor  of  this 
whale,  that  although  it  constantly  dragged 
through  the  water  from  four  to  six  boats,  to- 
gether with  sixteen  hundred  fathoms  of  line, 
yet  it  pursued  its  flight  nearly  as  fast  as  a  boat 
could  row,  and  whenever  one  passed  beyond  its 
tail  it  would  dive.  All  endeavors  to  lance  it 
were  therefore  vain,  and  the  crews  of  the  loose 
boats  moored  to  those  that  were  fast,  the  whale 
all  the  time  steadily  towing  them  on. 

At  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening  a  line  was 
taken  to  the  ship,  with  a  view  of  retarding  its 
flight,  and  topsails  were  lowered,  but  the  har- 
poon drew.  In  three  hours  another  line  was 
taken  on  board,  which  immediately  snapped. 
At  four  in  the  afternoon  of  the  next  day,  thirty- 
six  hours  after  the  whale  was  first  struck,  two 
of  the  fast  lines  were  taken  on  board  the  ship. 


His   CAPTORS.  215 

Forty  Hours'  Drag.  Six  Miles  of  Line. 

The  wind  blowing  a  moderately  brisk  breeze, 
the  top-gallant-sails  were  taken  in,  the  courses 
hauled  up,  and  the  top-sails  clewed  down ;  yet 
in  this  situation  she  was  towed  directly  to  wind- 
ward, for  an  hour  and  a  half,  with  the  velocity 
of  one  and  a  half  to  two  knots  an  hour,  the 
whale  all  the  while  beating  the  water  with  its 
fins  and  tail,  so  that  the  sea  around  was  in  a 
continual  foam.  At  length,  near  eight  o'clock, 
after  forty  hours  of  incessant  exertion,  this  te- 
nacious assertor  of  his  vast  animal  vigor  and 
territorial  rights  was  killed. 

There  is  an  instance  given  by  Captain  Scores- 
by  where  a  Greenland  whale  was  at  last  killed 
who  had  drawn  out  ten  thousand  four  hundred 
and  forty  yards,  or  about  six  miles  of  line,  at- 
tached to  fifteen  harpoons,  besides  taking  one 
boat  entirely  under  water,  which  disappeared 
and  was  never  seen,  the  harpoons  by  which  it 
was  held  to  the  whale  probably  drawing  out 
under  the  immense  pressure,  and  leaving  it  to 
sink,  or  to  rise  under  the  ice. 

But  the  most  dreadful  display  of  the  whale's 
strength  and  prowess  yet  authentically  record- 
ed was  that  made  upon  the  American  whale 
ship  Essex,  Captain  Pollard,  which  sailed  from 


216  THE  WHALE  AND 

Accident  to  the  Essex.  A  strange  and  fatal  Collision. 

Nantucket  for  the  Pacific  Ocean  in  August, 
1819.  Late  in  the  fall  of  the  same  year,  when 
in  latitude  forty  of  the  South  Pacific,  a  school 
of  sperm  whales  were  discovered,  and  three 
boats  were  manned  and  sent  in  pursuit.  The 
mate's  boat  was  struck  by  one  of  them,  and  he 
was  obliged  to  return  to  the  ship  in  order  to 
repair  the  damage. 

While  he  was  engaged  in  that  work,  a  sperm 
whale,  judged  to  be  eighty-five  feet  long,  broke 
water  about  twenty  rods  from  the  ship,  on  her 
weather  bow.  He  was  going  at  the  rate  of 
about  three  knots  an  hour,  and  the  ship  at 
nearly  the  same  rate,  when  he  struck  the  bows 
.  of  the  vessel  just  forward  of  her  chains. 

At  the  shock  produced  by  the  collision  of  two 
such  mighty  masses  of  matter  in  motion,  the 
ship  shook  like  a  leaf.  The  seemingly  mali- 
cious whale  dove  and  passed  under  the  ship, 
grazing  her  keel,  and  then  appeared  at  about 
the  distance  of  a  ship's  length,  lashing  the  sea 
with  fins  and  tail,  as  if  suffering  the  most  hor- 
rible agony.  He  was  evidently  hurt  by  the 
collision,  and  blindly  frantic  with  instinctive 
rage. 

In  a  few  minutes  he  seemed  to  recover  him- 


His   CAPTORS.  217 

Ship  Settling.        Malice  aforethought.        Fate  of  Survivors. 

self,  and  started  with  great  speed  directly 
across  the  vessel's .  course  to  the  windward. 
Mean  time  the  hands  on  board  discovered  the 
ship  to  be  gradually  settling  down  at  the  bows, 
and  the  pumps  were  to  be  rigged.  While 
working  at  them,  one  of  the  men  cried  out, 
"  God  have  mercy  !  he  comes  again  !" 

The  whale  had  turned  al  about  one  hundred 
rod*  from  the  ship,  and  was  making  for  her 
with  double  his  former  speed,  his  pathway 
white  with  foam.  Rushing  head  on,  he  struck 
her  again  at  the  bow,  and  the  tremendous  blow 
stove  her  in.  The  whale  dived  under  again 
and  disappeared,  and  the  ship  foundered  in  ten 
minutes  from  the  first  collision. 

After  incredible  hardships  and  sufferings  in 
their  open  boats,  on  the  20th  of  December  the 
survivors  of  this  catastrophe  reached  the  low 
island  called  Ducies,  in  latitude  twenty-four 
degrees  forty  minutes  south,  longitude  one 
hundred  and  twenty-four  degrees  forty  minutes 
west.  It  was  a  mere  sand-bank,  nearly  bar- 
ren, which  supplied  them  only  with  water  and 
sea-fowl.  On  this  uninhabited  island,  dreary 
as  it  was,  three  of  the  men  chose  to  remain, 
rather  than  again  commit  themselves  to  the 


218  THE    WHALE   AND 

Protracted  Sufferings.  A  strange,  eventful  Story. 

uncertainties  of  the  sea.  They  have  never 
since  been  heard  from,  the. island  being  seldom 
visited. 

On  the  27th  of  December,  the  three  boats, 
with  the  remainder  of  the  men,  put  away  to- 
gether for  the  Island  of  Juan  Fernandez,  at  a 
distance  of  two  thousand  miles.  The  mate's 
boat  was  taken  up  by  the  Indian,  of  London, 
on  the  19th  of  February,  ninety-three  ^tys 
from  the  time  of  the  catastrophe,  with  only 
three  living  survivors. 

The  captain's  boat  was  fallen  in  with  by  the 
Dauphin,  of  Nantucket,  on  the  23d  of  the  same 
month,  having  only  two  men  living,  whose  lives 
had  been  eked  out  onlyjthrdttgh  that  last  resort 
of  hunger  in  the  wretcffed,  which  words  shud- 
der to  relate  !  Out  t>?  a  crew  of  twenty,  five 
only  survived  to  make  the  ear  of  the  world  tin- 
gle at  their  strange,  eventful  story. 

There  is  one  other  instance  of  the  immediate 
shipwreck  of  a  whaler  by  the  shock  of  those 
mighty  leviathans,  that  of  the  Union,  of  Nan- 
tucket,  Captain  Gardner,  which  was  totally 
lost,  in  the  year  1807,  between  Nantucket  and 
the  Azores,  by  a  similar  concussion.  A  mer- 
chant brig,  plying  between  Panama  and  one  of 


His   CAPTORS.  219 

Others  like  it.          Tempted  Temerity  of  a  Whaling  Captain. 

the  ports  of  Western  Mexico,  has  lately  met 
with  the  same  disaster,  but  without  loss  of  life, 
the*  passengers  and  crew  being  all  rescued  by 
an  American  whale  ship. 

Another  form  of  the  perils  of  whaling  is  illus- 
trated in  the  following  incidents,  taken  from 
an  authentic  communication  in  one  of  the  re- 
ligious newspapers  of  the  day,  which  we  insert 
here,- in  order  to  complete  this  Daguerreotype 
Gallery  of  Life  and  Adventures  in  a  Whale  Ship. 

A  few  years  ago,  the  captain  of  a  whale 
ship  was  on  a  cruise  in  the  Pacific  Ocean. 
There  were  three  boats  attached  to  the  ship. 
Early  one  morning  a  whale  appeared.  Two 
boats  were  sent  to  capture  it.  They  fastened 
to  the  whale,  and  were  soon  drawn  by  this 
monster  of  the  deep  out  of  sight  of  the  ship. 
An  hour  or  two  passed  along,  when,  suddenly, 
another  whale  rose  in  the  water,  but  a  few 
rods  from  the  vessel.  The  temptation  to  at- 
tempt its  capture  was  too  strong  to  be  resisted." 
The  captain  ordered  the  remaining  boat  to  be 
lowered,  and,  leaving  but  one  man  and  two 
boys  to  take  care  of  the  ship,  sprang  into  the 
boat  with  the  rest  of  the  crew. 

Soon    the   harpoon    was   plunged    into   the 


220  THE   WHALE    AND 

Unequal  Contest.  The  Mammoth  wins  the  Day. 

whale,  and  they  were  carried,  with  almost  the 
speed  of  the  wind,  about  fifteen  miles  from  the 
ship.  Then  the  whale  plunged  perpendicularly 
down  into  the  depths  of  the  ocean.  It  was  not 
long  ere  they  saw  him,  fathoms  deep  in  the 
crystal  waters,  rushing  up,  with  open  jaws,  to 
destroy  the  boat.  By  skillfully  sheering  the 
boat,  the  whale  missed  his  aim,  and,  thrusting 
his  mammoth  head  some  fifteen  or  twentj^eet 
into  the  air,  he  fell  over  upon  his  side,  and 
again  disappeared  in  the  fathomless  sea.  Soon 
he  reappeared  in  the  almost  transparent  abyss, 
again  rushing  upward  to  attack  the  boat.  Again 
he  was  foiled. 

The  third  time  he  descended,  and  as  he 
arose,  with  invigorated  fury,  he  struck  the  boat 
in  the  center  of  the  keel,  threw  it  some  fifteen 
feet  into  the  air,  and,  scattering  the  crew  and 
fragments  of  the  boat  over  the  waves,  again 
plunged  into  the  deep  and  disappeared.  The 
captain  and  the  crew  were  now  in  the  water, 
clinging  to  the  pieces  of  the  demolished  boat. 
They  were  fifteen  miles  from  the  ship,  and 
could  not  be  seen  from  its  deck.  The  other 
boats  were  gone,  they  knew  not  where.  Ap- 
parently, every  chance  of  rescue  was  cut  off, 


Right  Whale  staving  a  Boat. 


His    CAPTORS.  223 


Dismal  State  and  Prospects.  Prayers  of  the  Despairing. 

and  nothing  awaited  them  but  a  watery  grave. 
It  was  twelve  o'clock  at  noon.  The  hours  of 
one,  two,  three,  four,  five,  and  six  passed  slowly 
away,  and  still  they  were  floating,  almost  ex- 
hausted, upon  the  heaving  billows  of  the  Pa- 
cific. When  the  ship  rose  on  the  swelling  seas, 
they  could  just  catch  a  glimpse  of  her  rolling 
spars. 

"  Oh  !  how  fervently  I  prayed,"  said  one  of 
these  mariners,  when  afterward  relating  the 
scene,  "that  God  would  in  some  way  providen- 
tially interpose  and  save  our  lives !  I  thought 
of  my  wife,  of  my  little  children,  of  my  prayer- 
less  life,  of  the  awful  account  I  had  to  render 
at  the  bar  of  God  for  grieving  the  Spirit  and 
neglecting  the  Savior.  All  the  horrors  of  this 
dreadful  death  were  forgotten  in  the  thought, 
that  in  one  short  hour  I  was  to  render  up  an 
account  to  God  for  years  of  ingratitude  and  dis- 
obedience. Oh  !  thought  I,  if  I  were  only  a 
Christian,  what  a  solace  would  it  be  to  me  as 
I  sink  into  this  watery  grave !" 

The  sun  had  now  disappeared  behind  the  dis- 
tant waves,  and  the  darkening  shades  of  a  dreary 
night  were  settling  down  over  the  ocean.  Just 
then  they  descried,  dim  in  the  dusky  distance, 


224  THE  WHALE  AND 

A  Gleam  of  Hope.          They  Shout  for  dear  Life — are  heard. 

one  of  the  absent  boats  returning  to  the  ship. 
It  was,  however,  far  off,  apparently  beyond  the 
reach  of  their  loudest  outcries.  Impelled  by  the 
energies  of  despair,  they  simultaneously  raised 
a  shout,  which  blended  with  the  wash  of  the 
waves  and  sighing  of  the  breeze,  and  the  boat 
continued  on  its  way.  Again  they  raised  an- 
other shout,  and  it  was  also  unavailing. 

The  shades  of  the  night  were  deepening,  the 
boat  rapidly  passing  by  them.  Almost  frenzied 
at  their  terrible  condition,  they  raised  another 
cry.  The  sound  of  that  distant  shriek  fell  faintly 
upon  the  ears  of  the  boatmen,  and  they  rested 
on  their  oars.  Another  shout,  which  almost  lac- 
erated their  throats,  was  raised,  and  the  boat 
turned  in  pursuit.  They  were  taken  from  the 
water,  and  carried  almost  lifeless  to  the  ship. 

In  another  authentic  instance,  when  a  boat 
was  chasing  a  whale,  he  suddenly  turned  to 
windward,  and  made  directly  for  his  pursuers, 
who  were  so  excited  by  the  chase  as  to  be  blind 
to  danger.  On,  therefore,  they  madly  rushed, 
without  trying  to  avoid  the  infuriated  monster, 
so  eager  were  they  to  plunge  into  him  their 
irons,  till  the  boat  struck  with  such  force  upon 
the  whale's  head  as  to  throw  the  oarsmen  from 


His  CAPTORS.  227 

Perilous  Hunt.  A  Boat  thrown  into  a  Whale's  Mouth. 

their  thwarts.  At  the  same  moment,  the  boat- 
steerer  let  fly  his  two  harpoons  into  the  mam- 
moth body,  which  rolled  over  on  its  back ;  and 
before  the  boat  could  get  clear  of  danger,  being 
to  the  windward,  a  heavy  sea  struck  it  and  threw 
them  directly  into  the  whale's  mouth  !  All,  of 
course,  sprang  for  their  lives,  and  they  had  bare- 
ly time  to  throw  themselves  clear  of  the  boat 
before  it  was  crushed  to  pieces  by  those  pon- 
derous jaws,  and  its  ejected  crew  were  provi- 
dentially all  picked  up  by  another  boat. 

Such  are  the  dangers  which  are  continually 
incurred  in  the  whale  fishery,  equal  almost  to 
those  of  the  field  of  battle.  We  often  wonder 
that  so  many  escape  with  their  lives  from  a 
battle  field ;  and  we  equally  wonder  that,  com- 
paratively, so  few  perish  in  this  most  hazardous 
pursuit.  A  boat,  almost  as  frail  as  a  bubble,  ap- 
proaches the  side  of  a  whale,  slumbering  upon 
the  ocean,  sixty  or  eighty  feet  in  length,  and  a 
harpoon  is  plunged  into  his  body.  His  efforts  to 
destroy  his  tormentors  or  escape  from  them,  as 
we  have  again  and  again  learned,  are  terrific. 
The  ocean  is  lashed  into  foam  by  blows  from  his 
enormous  flukes,  which  would  almost  dash  in 
the  ribs  of  a  man-of-war.  Often  he  rushes  at 


228  THE  WHALE  AND 

The  Game  majestic.  The  Whaleman's  Lot  hard. 

the  boat  with  lightning  speed  and  with  open 
jaws,  and  it  is  crushed  like  an  egg-shell  in  his 
mouth. 

In  this  frightful  warfare  many  are  maimed, 
and  many  lives  are  annually  lost.  But  some 
whales  are  worth  between  two  and  three  thou- 
sand dollars,  and  this  is  majestic  game  to  hunt. 
He,  however,  who  earns  his  bread  through  the 
perils  and  hardships  of  this  pursuit,  has  truly  a 
hard  lot  in  life.  He  is  but  a  transient  visitor 
at  his  home.  Amid  the  solitude  of  the  ocean  he 
passes  the  greater  portion  of  his  days  ;  and  if 
he  survives  the  perils  of  his  adventurous  pur- 
suit, the  storms  of  the  ocean,  and  the  pestilence 
of  different  climes,  he  usually  finds  that  the 
friends  of  his  youth  are  all  gone,  and  that  he  is 
almost  a  stranger  at  his  own  fireside.  And  yet 
this  mode  of  life  has  its  own  joys  and  emolu- 
ments, for,  if  ordinarily  successful,  in  the  course 
of  fifteen  or  twenty  years  a  whaleman  will  lay 
up  a  moderate  competence  for  the  rest  of  his 
days,  and  meanwhile,  notwithstanding  the  un- 
favorable influences  which  are  often  at  work  in 
the  whale  ship,  many  are  forming  noble  char- 
acters. 

Although  it  is  no  genial  soil,  yet  virtue,  hu- 


His   CAPTORS.  229 

Who  that  knows  it  would  go  to  Sea  ?  The  Life  to  live. 

manity,  true  nobility,  and  the  fear  of  God,  can 
live  and  grow  in  a  whale  ship,  both  fore  and 
aft.  I  have  met  them  on  this  present  voyage, 
and  in  some  signal  instances  elsewhere,  which 
it  would  be  base  ingratitude  and  a  denying  of 
God's  grace  not  to  acknowledge  and  give  credit 
for.  But  who  that  knows  it  as  I  do,  would 
choose  a  life  in  a  whale  ship,  or  life  any  where 
at  sea  !  Who  does  not  rather  say,  with  one 
that  knew  whereof  he  spake, 

Eternal  ocean  !  old  majestic  sea  ! 
Ever  I  love  from  shore  to  look  on  thee. 
And  sometimes  on  thy  billowy  back  to  ride, 
And  sometimes  o'er  thy  summer  breast  to  glide ; 
But  let  me  live  on  land,  where  rivers  run, 
Where  shady  trees  may  screen  me  from  the  sun 
Where  I  may  feel,  secure,  the  fragrant  air ; 
Where,  whate'er  toil  or  wearying  pains  I  bear, 

Those  Eyes  which  look  away  all  human  ill, 
May  shed  on  me  their  still,  sweet,  constant  light, 
And  the  hearts  I  love  may,  day  and  night. 

Be  found  beside  me  safe  and  clustering  still. 


230  THE    WHALE    AND 


Sabbath  for  a  Whale  Ship.       A  Whale  Ship  for  the  Sabbath. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

CLAIMS  AND  ADVANTAGES  OF  THE  SABBATH  IN 
A  WHALE  SHIP. 

When  the  Sabbath's  peaceful  ray 

O'er  the  ocean's  breast  doth  play, 

Though  no  throngs  assemble  there, 

No  sweet  church-bells  call  to  prayer, 

Spirit !  let  thy  presence  be 

Sabbath  to  the  mustering  sea.— MRS.  SIGOUHNEY. 

Atlantic  Ocean,  Commodore  Preble,  latitude  32°  N.,  longi- 
tude 64$°  W.     Off"  the  Bermudas. 

A  PRIME  end  in  the  preceding  sketches  of 
whaling  life  has  been  to  prepare  the  way 
and  secure  attention  for  certain  considerations 
upon  the  wholesale  violation  of  the  Sabbath  in 
this  business.  By  the  Whaleman's  Shipping 
List,  at  the  commencement  of  1844  or  there- 
abouts, there  were  employed  in  the  whale  fish- 
ery, from  the  ports  of  the  United  States,  six 
hundred  and  seventy-four  vessels,  five  hundred 
and  ninety-three  of  them  then  at  sea,  chiefly 
from  New  Bedford,  Nantucket,  Sag  Harbor, 
New  London,  Stonington,  and  Newport. 


His   CAPTORS.  231 

Estimate  of  Men  in  the  Whale  Fishery.         Whence  derived. 

Allowing  for  the  average  thirty  souls  to  a 
ship,  which  is  a  moderate  computation,  there 
were  then  more  than  twenty  thousand  persons 
prosecuting  this  trade.  The  number  has  not 
diminished  since,  but  has  rather  increased,  until 
the  present  year,  and  it  is  an  estimate  much 
within  bounds,  that  there  are  now  actually  em- 
ployed in  this  business,  from  the  ports  of  the 
United  States,  eighteen  or  twenty  thousand 
men.  Among  them  are  men  of  divers  trades 
and  nations,  but  a  large  majority  are  citizens 
of  the  United  States  from  remote  inland  and 
sea-port  towns. 

Their  characters  and  relative  degrees  of  in- 
telligence and  moral  worth  are  different,  as  are 
their  origin  and  education.  Some  are  of  vi- 
cious, low  stock,  vicious  education,  and  an  in- 
curable addictedness  to  vice.  Others  are  of 
good  families,  from  religious  communities,  sons 
of  Christians,  and  have  been  taught  to  fear  God 
and  keep  his  commandments.  A  few  of  them 
profess  godliness.  All  of  them  are  alike  in  this, 
that  they  are  rational,  accountable  men,  under 
obligation  to  keep  God's  law,  and  having  man's 
natural  right  to  and  need  of  the  Sabbath  for 
rest  and  religious  worship. 


232  THE   WHALE   AND 

The  Whale-ship  Law.  Whale-ship  Sabbath  breaking. 

But  what  is  the  law  to  which  they  are  all 
alike  subjected  in  whale  ships  ?  With  very  few 
exceptions,  to  be  stated  in  their  place,  it  is  a 
law  that  acknowledges  no  Sabbath,  but  com- 
pels them  to  labor  alike  on  the  seventh  day  and 
all  days,  in  order  to  capture  whales  and  fill 
their  ship.  I  repeat  it,  for  the  information  of 
those  whom  it  may  concern,  there  is  no  Sab- 
bath known  in  the  whale  fishery. 

As  generally  conducted,  it  makes  eighteen 
or  twenty  thousand  habitual  Sabbath-breakers. 
Men  are  kept  at  the  fore  and  main  mast  heads, 
boats  are  lowered,  whales  are  taken  and  "cut 
in,"  and  all  the  work  incident  thereto  is  done 
on  the  Sabbath  just  as  much  as  on  any  day, 
and  this  without  the  pretence  of  a  plea  of  ne- 
cessity, as  in  working  a  ship,  but  solely  in  or- 
der to  "  fill  up"  as  soon  as  possible,  and  return 
to  port  with  a  cargo,  taken  as  it  comes,  it  mat- 
ters not  how,  whether  in  those  sacred  hours 
which  the  easy  owner  ashore  has  been  spending 
at  church,  or  in  the  busy  week  days  which  he 
devotes  to  the  counting-room,  or  farm,  or  work- 
shop. 

Owners,  too,  know  this  when  their  ships  go 
from  port,  are  generally  willing  it  should  be  so, 


His   CAPTORS.  233 

How  to  be  stopped.  Where  lies  the  Guilt  ? 

are  averse  to  have  it  otherwise.  Owners,  cap- 
tains, officers,  and  men  are  alike  the  willing 
participators  in  this  gross  violation  of  the  Lord's 
day,  for  the  sake  of  the  gain  they  think  it  brings 
them ;  else  either  of  these  parties,  by  assert- 
ing their  right  to  the  Sabbath,  and  refusing  to 
own  or  sail  in  ships  that  violate  it,  could  easily 
prevent  it. 

But  while  there  is  an  individual  participation 
in  this  sin,  the  guilt  of  it  rests  especially  upon 
owners  and  captains,  and  it  is  they  who  are 
chargeable  with  it,  and  who  are  to  be  arraigned 
at  the  bar  of  public  opinion,  as  they  will  be  at 
the  tribunal  of  Almighty  God.  It  is  they  whom 
we  charge  with  being  at  the  bottom  of  a  sys- 
tematic and  most  gross  violation  of  one  of  the 
plainest  commands  of  the  Decalogue,  and  with 
willfully  involving  a  great  many  others,  willing- 
ly or  not,  in  the  same  sin. 

The  only  pretexts  of  reason  we  have  ever 
heard  urged  to  defend  it  are,  This  is  the  busi- 
ness by  which  I  get  a  livelihood  for  myself  and 
family.  If  I  neglect  to  take  whales  when  God 
offers  them,  my  family  and  employers  will  be 
likely  to  suffer  for  it.  I  am  necessarily  absent 
a  long  time  from  home,  and  I  ought  to  use  ev- 


234  THE   WHALE   AND 

Pretexts  for  Sabbath  Whaling.  Replies  of  Reason. 

ery  means  in  my  power  to  shorten  that  time, 
and  secure  a  voyage  for  myself  and  owners. 
If  I  do  not  lower  for  whales  when  they  are  in 
sight,  the  Sabbath  will  be  more  desecrated  by 
the  men's  grumbling  than  it  would  be  by  cheer- 
ful labor  in  taking  whales.  The  business  of 
whaling  is  of  such  a  precarious  nature,  that, 
unless  all  chances  are  seized,  successful  voya- 
ges will  not  be  made  ;  therefore  it  is  necessary 
also  to  use  the  Sabbath  in  this  work  when 
Providence  presents  the  game.  No  one  regards 
the  Sabbath  more  than  I  do  when  ashore,  but 
my  business  exempts  me  from  the  obligation 
of  such  a  strict  observance  of  it  at  sea. 

Now  to  all  these  specious  efforts  at  self-justi- 
fication, which  we  have  heard  put  forth  at  dif- 
ferent times  and  by  different  persons,  and  to 
every  other  of  a  similar  sort,  it  is  enough  to  re- 
ply, first,  that  there  is  no  lawful  worldly  call- 
ing, except  that  whose  immediate  end  is  to  re- 
lieve human  suffering,  or  minister  instruction 
and  comfort  to  the  soul,  which  it  is  right  to 
pursue  on  the  Sabbath.  Six  days  shall  thou 
labor  and  do  all  thy  work.  But  the  seventh  is 
the  Sabbath  of  the  Lord  thy  God :  in  it  thou 
shall  not  do  any  work,  thou,  nor  thy  son,  nor 


His   CAPTORS.  235 

Made  for  Man  as  a  Worker.       Law  of  the  Sabbath  universal. 

thy  daughter •,  thy  man-servant,  nor  thy  maid- 
servant, nor  thy  cattle,  nor  thy  stranger  that 
is  within  thy  gates.  For  in  six  days  the  Lord 
made  heaven  and  earth,  nd  all  that  in  them 
is,  and  rested  the  seventh  day :  wherefore  the 
Lord  blessed  the  Sabbath  day,  and  hallowed  it. 

2.  God  has  revealed  no  indulgence  in  favor 
of  Sabbath  whaling,  any  more  than  to  Sabbath- 
breaking  railroad  companies,  steamboat,  canal, 
or  stage  lines,  or  Sunday  manufactories.    Show 
us  a  single  Divine  statute  of  limitation  yield- 
ing the  privilege  of  Sabbath  violation  in  but 
one  clear  case,  and  we  will  yield  the  argument. 

3.  The  assertion,  that  if  the  Sabbath  is  not 
improved  for  getting  whales,  the  voyage  will  be 
likely  to  prove  a  failure,  is  a  mere  assumption, 
for  prosperous  voyages  have  been  and  may  be 
made,  and  ships  filled,  without  a  whale  being 
struck  on  the  Lord's  day.     What  has  proved 
true  in  one  instance,  other  things  being  equal, 
there  is  reason  to  believe  would  prove  true  in 
all. 

4.  The  obligation  of  the  Sabbath  is  universal, 
and  extend*  to  all  men  alike,  on  the  sea  and 
land.     The  Sabbath  was  made  for  man  univer- 
sally, as  a  worker,  under  all  circumstances.    By 


236  THE   WHALE  AND 

A  good  Conscience  is  better  than  Sabbath  Gains. 

man,  therefore,  it  is  to  be  always  kept.  It  was 
given  to  the  race  by  God  for  rest  and  holy  wor- 
ship, and  every  individual  of  the  human  race, 
to  whom  the  law  comes,  is  bound  so  to  use  it. 
.5.  The  man  who  conscientiously  takes  care 
to  have  the  Sabbath  sanctified  by  himself,  and 
family,  and  dependents,  will  be  likely  to  have 
his  family  blessed  and  taken  care  of  by  the 
Sabbath's  almighty  Lord.  Godliness  is  profit- 
able for  all  things,  having1  promise  of  the  life 
that  now  is  and  of  that  which  is  to  come.  In 
keeping  God's  commandments  there  is  exceed- 
ing great  reward. 

6.  It  is  better  to  obey  God  and  please  HIM, 
than  to  attempt  to  please  men  and  get  the  favor 
of  owners  by  taking  oil  for  them  on  the  Sab- 
bath, in  direct  violation  of  a  positive  law  of 
God,  made  for  the  good  of  all  men,  and  in  har- 
mony with  the  human  constitution. 

7.  It  were  better,  if  need  be,  to  have  a  voyage 
prolonged,  and  then  come  back  with  a  clear  con- 
science and  God's  blessing,  than  to  return  sooner 
a  Sabbath  breaker,  with  the  ill-gotten  gains  of 
Sabbath  whaling,  and  a  conscience  denied  or 
seared  by  sin. 

8.  If  men  grumble,  and  swear,  and  sin  be- 


His   CAPTORS.  237 

A  groundless  Presumption.  A  Fact  of  Experience. 

cause  I  do  not  order  boats  to  be  lowered  on 
the  Sabbath  day.  it  is  their  look-out  and  blame. 
If  /have  boats  lowered,  it  is  mine,  and  God  will 
not  hold  me  guiltless. 

9.  It  is  an  unfounded  presumption  that  a  steady 
and  well-grounded  refusal  to  have  nothing  to  do 
with  Sabbath  whaling  will  produce  discontent 
among  the  men.     Experience  has  proved  that 
they  like  the  rest  of  the  Sabbath  as  well  as 
any  other  men,  and  are  glad  enough  to  have  it 
theirs  for  a  constancy,  though  they  would  like 
now  and  then  to  improve  any  rare  chance  offer- 
ed on  that  day  as  well  as  on  any  other. 

10.  If  no  look-out  is  kept  for  whales  on  the 
Sabbath,  but  the  day  is  devoted  to  rest,  they 
will  not  often  be  seen  that  day,  so  as  to  be  an 
occasion  of  discontent.     These  two  last  propo- 
sitions are  drawn  from  the  experience  of  this 
ship,  the  Commodore  Preble,  during  its  present 
Sabbath-keeping  voyage,  and  will,  I  am  well 
convinced,  be  found  true  of  every  ship  that  shall 
try  the  experiment.     The  captain  became  per- 
suaded at  the  Sandwich  Islands  that  he  would 
be  wrong  and  without  excuse  to  whale  any 
more  on  the  Sabbath,  and  with  a  new  heart  he 
resolved  to  do  so  no  more. 


238  THE   WHALE   AND 

Misfortunes  no  Argument  against  honoring  the  Sabbath. 

He  took  one  season  afterward  on  the  North- 
west, but,  for  reasons  which  it  were  easy  to 
mention,  not  the  least  of  which  was  not  being 
well  officered  or  manned  for  Northwest  whaling, 
the  ship  did  not  succeed  so  well  as  many  others. 
Several  boats  were  stove  early  in  the  season, 
some  of  the  men  got  upset  and  frightened,  tow- 
lines  parted,  and  many  things  went  ill ;  but, 
so  far  from  repenting  of  his  purpose  to  keep  the 
Sabbath,  he  is  more  strong  in  it  than  ever,  well 
persuaded  and  well  content  that,  if  God  do  not 
pay  him  in  oil  here,  durable  riches  and  right- 
eousness are  his  in  heaven. 

It  should  be  mentioned,  in  passing,  to  the 
honor  of  Lynn,  that  the  only  two  whale  ships, 
of  which  this  is  one,  that  hail  from  that  port, 
now  keep  the  Sabbath.  The  heaviest  owner  in 
them  is  a  religious  man,  who  says  he  does  not 
want  any  oil  taken  on  the  Sabbath.  There  is 
another  from  New  London,  the  Nantasket,  Cap- 
tain Smith,  and  others,  it  is  to  be  supposed, 
with  which  the  writer  is  not  acquainted. 

It  is  painful  to  have  to  record  the  pitifully 
different  course  of  another  captain  from  New 
Bedford,  a  professor  of  religion  and  esteemed  a 
good  man.  He  was  convinced  and  felt  that 


His   CAPTORS.  239 

Pitiable  Story  of  a  New  Bedford  Captain  and  Church  Member. 

it  was  wrong  to  whale  on  the  Sabbath,  and 
when  he  last  went  from  the  Sandwich  Islands 
to  the  Northwest  Coast,  he  proposed  in  his  mind 
not  to.  For  two  Sabbaths  he  held  out,  and  on 
one  of  them  saw  whales.  By  the  time  the  next 
Sabbath  came  round  they  had  done  but  little ; 
he  felt  uneasy,  could  not  stay  below  or  on  deck 
with  any  comfort,  his  mind  running  upon 
whales. 

At  length,  to  get  relief,  instead  of  betaking 
himself  more  earnestly  to  prayer  and  the  Word 
of  God,  he  ordered  his  mate  to  send  a  couple 
of  men  aloft,  and  when  they  sang  out  for  whales, 
he  lowered  his  boats  and  his  purpose  to  keep 
the  Sabbath  at  the  same  time.  Blubber  came 
in  in  abundance,  and  with  it  came  occupation 
and  content,  purchased,  I  need  not  say,  how 
poorly.  He  soon  filled  up  and  went  home,  even 
throwing  overboard  some  provisions  to  give  place 
to  oil. 

This  story  of  his  experience  he  told  himself, 
while  all  the  time  acknowledging  it  was  not 
right,  his  principle  and  conscience  not  being 
strong  enough  to  carry  out  his  convictions  of 
duty,  and  keep  him  from  acknowledged  sin. 
On  the  other  hand,  a  pious  sailor,  recently  re- 


240  THE    WHALE    AND 

Experience  of  a  pious  Sailor.          Godliness  the  Devil  wants. 

turned  from  a  two  years'  voyage,  says  that 
thirty  whales  were  taken  by  his  ship's  crew 
during  their  absence.  Three  of  these,  to  his 
sorrow,  were  taken  on  the  Sabbath.  But  in 
taking  these  three,  five  boats  were  destroyed 
and  five  men  were  seriously  wounded,  two  hav- 
ing their  limbs  broken,  and  one  his  skull  frac- 
tured. In  taking  the  remaining  twenty-seven 
whales  on  the  other  days  of  the  week,  only  four 
boats  were  injured,  and  one  man  slightly  hurt. 

Now  it  needs  not  that  we  say  positively  of 
so  easy  a  professor  and  loose  a  conscience  as 
that  of  the  New  Bedford  captain  just  now  re- 
ferred to,  that  such  a  man  can  not  be  a  Chris- 
tian, or  to  deny  that  he  may  be  saved  so  as  by 
fire.  But  certain  it  is,  it  were  a  pity  for  the 
world  if  the  goodness  in  it,  and  fear  of  God, 
and  practical  regard  to  principle  and  duty,  were 
no  stronger  than  this  man's.  The  devil  might 
keep  it  for  all  such  Christians  a  thousand  years 
longer,  and  we  don't  know  that  he  would  want 
any  better  agents  than  such  pliable  professors, 
that  seem  to  take  gain  for  godliness,  and  make 
a  "  gospel  of  their  maw." 

Such  men  will  do  well  to  read  and  ponder 
the  following  extract  from  the  Narrative  of  an 


His   CAPTORS.  241 

Schoolcraft's  Testimony  as  to  the  benefit  of  Sabbath  Keeping. 

Expedition  to  the  Sources  of  the  Mississippi, 
by  Henry  Schoolcraft :  "No  Sabbath  day  was 
employed  in  traveling.  It  was  laid  down  as  a 
principle  to  rest  on  that  day,  and  whenever  it 
overtook  us,  whether  on  land  or  on  water,  the 
men  knew  that  their  labor  would  cease,  and 
that  the  day  would  be  given  them  for  rest. 
Such  of  them  as  felt  an  inclination,  had  the 
further  privilege  of  hearing  a  portion  of  the 
Scriptures  read  or  expounded,  or  uniting  in 
other  devotional  rites.  There  were  but  a  few 
hours  of  a  single  morning  and  a  few  hours  of  a 
single  evening,  of  separate  Sabbaths,  at  distant 
points,  which  were  necessarily  employed  in 
reaching  particular  places ;  and  the  use  of  these 
appeared  to  be  unavoidable,  under  the  peculiar 
circumstances  of  our  local  position. 

"It  may,  perhaps,  be  thought,  that  the  giv- 
ing up  one  seventh  part  of  the  whole  time  em- 
ployed on  a  public  expedition,  in  a  very  remote 
region,  and  with  many  men  to  subsist,  must 
have,  in  this  ratio,  increased  the  time  devoted 
to  the  route.  But  the  result  was  far  otherwise. 
The  time  devoted  to  recruit  the  men  not  only 
gave  the  surgeon  of  the  party  an  opportunity  to 
heal  up  the  bruises  and  chafings  they  complain- 

Q 


242  THE   WHALE    AND 

Zest  after  Rest.  A  Word  to  the  Sabbath  Keeper. 

ed  of,  but  it  replenished  them  with  strength ; 
they  commenced  the  week's  labor  with  renew- 
ed zest,  and  this  zest  was  in  a  measure  kept 
up  by  the  reflection  that  the  ensuing  Sabbath 
would  be  a  day  of  rest.  It  was  found,  by  com- 
puting the  whole  route,  and  comparing  the  time 
employed  with  that  which  had  been  devoted  on 
similar  routes  in  this  part  of  the  world,  that  an 
equal  space  had  been  gone  over  in  less  time 
than  it  had  ever  been  known  to  be  performed 
by  loaded  canoes  or  (as  the  fact  is)  by  light 
canoes  before.  And  the  whole  expedition — its 
incidents  and  results — has  been  of  a  character 
furnishing  strong  reasons  for  uniting  in  ascrip- 
tions of  praise  to  that  Eternal  Power  who  hath 
been  our  shield  from  the  pestilence  that  walk- 
eth  in  darkness,  and  from  the  destruction  that 
wasteth  at  noon  day" 

We  have  become  acquainted  with  the  names 
or  persons  of  nine  men  belonging  to  the  Church, 
masters  of  whale  ships,  and  but  three  of  these 
keep  the  Sabbath.  Some  of  the  reasons  for 
this  desecration  of  the  Lord's  day  by  whale 
ships,  or  the  causes  of  it,  we  will  endeavor  to 
give  in  another  chapter  ;  and  we  close  this  with 
a  voice  of  good  cheer  to  upright  Sabbath-keep- 


His   CAPTORS.  243 

The  Poet  to  the  Mariner.  Good  Angels  lead  Thee ! 

ing  whalemen,  as  heard  in  the  stirring  Mari- 
ner's Hymn  by  Mrs.  Southey : 

Launch  thy  bark,  mariner ! 

Christian,  GOD  speed  thee  ! 
Let  loose  the  rudder  bands — 

Good  angels  lead  thee ! 
Set  thy  sails  warily, 

Tempests  will  come  ; 
Steer  thy  course  steadily, 

Christian,  steer  home ! 

Slacken  not  sail  yet 

At  inlet  or  island ; 
Straight  for  the  beacon  steer, 

Straight  for  the  highland  : 
Crowd  all  the  canvass  on, 

Cut  through  the  foam — 
Christian  !  cast  anchor  now — 

Heaven  is  thy  home ! 


244  THE   WHALE   AND 


Main  reason  for  Sabbath  Whaling.  Lucre  above  Law. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

A  PLEA  IN  BEHALF  OF  THE  SABBATH  FOR  WHALEMEN. 

What  says  the  prophet?  let  that  day  be  bless'd 

With  holiness  and  consecrated  rest. 

Pastime  and  business  both  it  should  exclude, 

And  bar  the  door  the  moment  they  intrude ; 

Nobly  distinguished  above  all  the  six, 

By  deeds  in  which  the  world  must  never  mix. 

Hear  him  again !  he  calls  it  a  delight, 

A  day  of  luxury,  observed  aright ; 

When  the  glad  soul,  made  heaven's  own  willing  guest, 

Sits  banqueting,  and  God  provides  the  feast. — COWPEK. 

THE  all-inclusive  cause  which  perpetuates 
and  lies  at  the  bottom  of  Sabbath  whaling, 
is  that  which  upholds  and  furnishes  the  stimu- 
lus to  almost  all  other  forms  of  Sabbath  break- 
ing, the  odious  slave-trade,  &c. — I  mean  the  lust 
of  lucre,  that  deified  greedy  Devil  of  gain  that 
in  the  end  troubleth  his  own  house.  Whaling 
captains  and  owners  are  seldom  willing,  for  the 
honor  of  GOD  or  regard  to  his  law,  to  forego 
the  profits  which  they  think  accrue  from  Sab- 
bath whaling;  and  therefore,  once  at  sea  on 
whaling  ground,  they  are  unwilling  to  stop  and 
take  breath  for  a  long  Lord's  day. 


His  CAPTORS.  245 

What  Sabbath  Breakers  think.  What  they  do  not  think. 

Oil  got  on  the  Sabbath  burns  as  well,  sells 
as  well,  and,  they  think,  spends  as  well  as  oil 
got  lawfully  on  week  days.  Not  to  use  the 
Sabbath  in  their  gainful  business,  they  think, 
would  be  losing  one  seventh  part  of  their  time, 
neglecting  one  seventh  of  their  chances,  keep- 
ing them  one  seventh  longer  out,  consuming 
one  seventh  more  provisions,  exhausting  one 
seventh  more  of  patience  and  spirits,  and  per- 
haps, in  the  end,  leaving  them  with  one  seventh 
less  of  oil  than  ships  that  use  all  days  alike,  and 
one  seventh  less  of  every  thing  but  a  good  con- 
science and  the  favor  of  God. 

To  balance  these,  we  have  only  to  offer,  with- 
out swelling  the  list,  as  might  easily  be  done, 
with  other  items,  that  keeping  the  Sabbath 
would  be  likely  to  make  whalers  three  sevenths 
better  and  more  respectable  men,  three  sev- 
enths more  easy  and  peaceful  in  their  minds, 
and  one  seventh  the  longer  lived  than  those  who 
persist  in  profaning  God's  holy  day ;  and  it 
would  make  owners  at  home  all  the  better 
Christians,  or  more  likely  subjects  of  the  grace 
of  God  here,  and  with  less  to  answer  for  at  the 
great  bar  of  judgment  hereafter. 

At  present  it  is  said  by  many  whaling  cap- 


246  THE  WHALE  AND 

Religious  Owners  of  irreligious  Ships.         A  Yankee's  Guess. 

tains,  that  their  owners  absolutely  require  whal- 
ing on  the  Sabbath,  as  one  of  the  conditions  on 
which  they  give  them  command  of  their  ships. 
It  is  also  said  that  many  of  these  ship-owners 
are  members  of  evangelical  churches  in  Nan- 
tucket,  New  Bedford,  Fair  Haven,  Sag  Harbor, 
New  London,  Warren,  Newport,  Stonington, 
and  other  places.  Some  owners  say  nothing  to 
their  captains  on  the  subject ;  but  if  their  ships 
do  but  return  full,  no  inquiries  are  made  how 
or  on  what  days  the  oil  was  obtained. 

Now  and  then  a  shrewd  Yankee  captain 
guesses  that  his  pious  owners  have  no  objec- 
tions to  his  taking*  oil  when  he  can  get  it.  A 
full  ship  fills  the  heart  with  joy,  and  lights  up  the 
countenance  with  an  approving  and  benignant 
smile ;  while  a  half-filled  ship  often  clouds  the 
brow,  deranges  the  spleen,  obstructs  the  biliary 
ducts,  and  stops  the  joyful  and  generous  action 
of  the  heart.  Especially  would  this  be  so  had 
the  crew  of  the  half-filled  ship  been  permitted  to 
rest  one  day  in  the  seven,  according  to  the  com- 
mandment. 

Occasionally  a  master,  an  officer,  or  a  sailoi 
hints  that  he  would  be  glad  to  rest  on  the  Sab- 
bath, according  to  the  dictates  of  his  conscience ; 


His  CAPTORS.  247 

Protest  of  a  Missionary.  Proper  Subject  of  Rebuke. 

but  this  he  may  not  do,  except  at  the  risk  of 
losing  his  ship  and  being  thrown  out  of  employ- 
ment, and  he  will  therefore  conclude  that  Sab- 
bath whaling  with  him,  at  least,  is  a  work  of 
necessity. 

Rev.  Titus  Coan,  an  honored  missionary  at 
the  Sandwich  Islands,  who  has  had  much  to  do 
practically  with  whalemen,  says,  with  not  less 
truth  than  with  a  justifiable  irony,  that  there 
are  some  captains  "  who  will  consent  to  be  very 
pious  and  hold  religious  meetings  on  the  Sab- 
bath when  there  are  no  whales.  Of  course,  they 
always  keep  a  man  at  *  mast  head,'  on  the  '  look- 
out' for  the  oil  of  joy  to  the  whalemen,  while 
the  rest  look  up  for  *  an  unction  from  the  Holy 
One  ;'  or,  in  other  words,  one  man  looks  out  for 
worldly r,  while  the  rest  look  up  for  heavenly 
good.  Now  should  it  so  happen  that  the  prayer 
of  this  MAST-HEAD  MINISTER  should  be  first  grant- 
ed, by  raising  a  whale  during  divine  service,  and 
should  he,  from  his  lofty  pulpit,  cry  out,  '  There 
she  blows !'  then  what  a  thrill  of  joy  electrifies 
all  his  hearers!  How  soon  the  lesser  desire 
yields  to  the  greater !  How  quick  and  how  thrill- 
ing the  response  from  the  quarter-deck,  *  WHERE 

AWAY  ?     LOWER  THE  BOATS  !     BEAR  AHAND,  BOYS  !' 


248  THE  WHALE  AND 

Very  fervent  Whale-ward.  Very  dull  God-ward. 

"  Now  the  scene  changes.  Devotion  does  not 
cease,  but  it  is  turned  into  another  channel. 
Prayer,  reading,  sacred  melody,  exhortation,  all 
give  place  to  the  weightier  matter  of  pursu- 
ing this  MOVING  SEA-GOD  !  The  object  of  devo- 
tion thus  changed,  interest,  zeal,  fervor,  energy, 
are  all  quickened  and  strongly  developed. 

"  True,  most  irreligious  men  ridicule  this 
kind  of  piety,  and  heartily  despise  its  selfishness 
and  inconsistency  ;  and  Lord's-day  whalemen 
often  complain  that  it  is  hard  to  maintain  re- 
ligion, and  especially  so  to  keep  up  divine  serv- 
ice at  sea.  No  doubt  it  is  hard,  and  perhaps 
it  is  impossible,  to  exercise  true  religion  in  con- 
nection with  Sabbath  breaking.*  The  two  can 

*  A  clergyman  was  once  invited  to  preach  on  board  a  whale 

ship.  The  hour  for  service  having  anived,  Captain 

said  to  the  officer  of  the  deck,  "  Mr.  ,  call  all  hands 

aft."  The  crew  were  soon  assembled  in  the  cabin.  An  "  old 
salt"  remaining  behind,  the  captain  inquired,  "  Where  is 

S ?"  "Down  in  the  hold,  sir;  says  he  won't  come  to 

meeting,  sir."  He  was  then  called  again,  but  to  no  effect. 
He  had  gone  down  into  the  blubber-hold,  and  there  intrench- 
ed himself,  like  a  giant  in  his  castle  or  a  lion  in  his  lair.  He 
was  reasoned  with,  but  all  to  no  purpose.  He  refused  to  be 
routed.  There,  in  his  den,  he  sat ;  and  in  his  den  he  growled 
defiance:  "  I  won't  come  up  !"  On  this  the  officer  left  him, 
and  reported  to  the  captain. 

The  clergyman  now  asked  the  liberty  to  go  himself  and  in- 


His   CAPTORS.  249 

An  old  Salt's  opinion  of  Sabbath  Whaling. 

not  be  reconciled.  No  man  can  serve  two  mas- 
ters. Ye  can  not  serve  God  and  mammon" 

Another  reason  why  the  taking  of  whales  is 
prosecuted  so  generally  on  the  Sabbath  as  well 
as  other  days  is,  the  neglect  of  ministers  in 
whaling  ports  to  apply  God's  law  to  Sabbath 
whaling.  Captains  at  the  Sandwich  Islands, 
who  have  been  remonstrated  with  by  faithful 
ministers  there,  have  said,  "We  never  heard 
our  ministers  at  home  preach  so  against  Sab- 

vite  the  old  man  in  the  blubber-hold.  This  granted,  he  pro- 
ceeded to  the  hatchway,  and  kindly  invited  the  iron-hearted 
tar  to  come  up  and  attend  service.  For  a  moment  the  old 
man  was  silent ;  but  it  was  only  the  silence  of  a  dark  cloud 
while  it.gathers  strength  for  a  burst  jmd  a  roar.  At  length  he 
raised  his  stern  brow,  and,  with  a  look  of  defiance,  brawled 
out,  "  No !  I  won't  go !" 

A  gentle  effort  was  then  made  to  soften  his  rigid  nerves ; 
but  Jack  was  not  to  be  taken  either  by  storm  or  by  stratagem. 
Again  he  roared  out,  "  I  tell  you,  no !  I  won't  go  there !"  On 
being  asked  the  reasons  for  his  prejudice  against  religious 
services,  he  again  thundered  out,  "  I  don't  want  any  of  Cap- 
tain   's  religion  !  One  Sunday  it  is  all  preach  and  pray, 

and  the  next  Sunday  it  is  work !  work !  Catch  whales !  catch 
whales !  No !  I  won't  go  aft  to  meeting ;  and  that's  all  about 
it !"  The  result  of  this  interview  was  reported  to  the  captain, 
the  services  proceeded,  and  old  Jack  remained  in  the  blubber- 
room. —  The  Sailor's  Sabbath:  a  Tract.  By  Rev.  Titus  Co- 
an.  Honolulu,  Oahu.  Published  by  the  Hawaiian  Tract  So- 
ciety. 


250  THE   WHALE   AND 

True  in  Fact,  but  poor  for  Excuse.  Silence  of  Ministers. 

bath  whaling."  And  it  has  even  been  intimat- 
ed that  a  clergyman,  who  should  be  faithful  in 
reproving  for  this  sin,  would  not  be  endured  long 
in  any  of  our  whaling  ports. 

Now,  though  a  poor  excuse,  this,  we  believe, 
is  in  fact  true.  Whether,  by  reason  of  mere  ap- 
athy or  inattention,  this  form  of  Sabbath  break- 
ing not  being  before  their  eyes ;  or,  holding,  as 
some  do,  that  we  are  only  to  preach  principles, 
and  let  them  apply  themselves ;  or,  as  fearing  to 
offend  wealthy  parishioners,  whose  support  the 
Church  can  not  well  spare — from  one  or  all  of 
these  reasons  combined,  ministers  in  whaling 
ports  (unless  we  have  been  greatly  misinform- 
ed) have  had  little  or  nothing  to  say  upon  the 
sin  of  Sabbath  whaling ;  and  their  parishioners 
have,  consequently,  kept  on  owning  and  sailing 
in  Sabbath-breaking  ships,  kept  in  countenance 
by  their  own  minister's  silence,  which  has  (em- 
phatically to  them)  spoken  consent. 

It  can  hardly  help  reflecting  upon  the  fideli- 
ty of  clergymen  at  whaling  ports,  in  some  of 
which  there  have  been  of  late  years  powerful 
revivals  of  religion,  that  ship-masters,  officers, 
and  men,  converted  in  those  very  revivals,  have 
gone  out  upon  the  high  seas  organized  compa- 


His  CAPTORS.  251 

Wrong  Names  and  right  Names.          Protest  of  Christianity. 

nies  of  Sabbath  breakers.  Surely,  if  there  be 
the  least  propriety  in  speaking  of  a  slave-hold- 
ing Christianity,  this -may  as  well  be  called 
a  Sabbath-breaking'  Christianity.  But  no ! 
there  is  no  propriety  in  either,  when  we  call 
things  by  their  right  names.  There  can  be 
such  a  strange  anomaly  as  slave-holding,  Sab- 
bath-breaking Christians,  but  there  is  no  slave- 
holding  or  Sabbath-breaking  Christianity.  She 
alike  eschews  both,  as  utterly  at  war  with  her 
doctrines  and  requisitions.  They  are  both  alike 
an  incubus  upon  her,  not  her  offspring. 

At  the  best,  they  are  but  temporary  moles 
and  blemishes  upon  her  fair  person,  which  time, 
together  with  her  own  internal  purity  and  ener- 
gy of  constitution,  will  soon  wash  off  and  make 
to  disappear.  They  are  deforming  excrescences 
upon  the  noble  tree  of  the  American  Church, 
which,  unless  they  be  soon  cut  off,  may  produce 
the  vegetable  gangrene  or  dry  rot.  But  never 
call  them  her  limbs  or  leaves,  for  she  indignant- 
ly denies  the  parentage,  and  asserts  that  they 
have  fastened  on  her  like  leeches,  but  are  not 
of  her ;  and  she  protests  that  it  would  be  as 
unfair  to  call  the  monarch  oak  by  some  para- 
sitical vine  that  now  and  then  coils  over  it,  as 


252  THE   WHALE   AND 

How  she  deals  with  Parasites,  Warts,  and  Carbuncles. 

to  give  herself  epithets  from  the  heresies  and 
misdeeds  that  have  so  struck  their  roots  into 
her  bark  as  to  be  nourished  by  her  juices. 

Rather  let  it  be  our  business  to  pull  off  the 
unnatural  growth,  or  purge  it  with  the  physic 
of  truth  till  it  dies  and  drops  away  of  itself, 
than  to  derive  epithets  to  Christianity  from 
slave-holders  or  Sabbath  breakers,  or  any  other 
class  of  sinners  that  contrive  to  shelter  them- 
selves under  its  lea.  It  is  the  duty  especially 
of  ministers  in  the  ports  where  whalers  are  fit- 
ted out,  to  bring  the  law  of  God  to  bear  upon 
this  form  of  Sabbath  breaking ;  to  apply  it  point- 
edly and  plainly  to  this  sin,  and  to  preach  and 
pray  against  it  till  it  shall  cease  to  be  allowed 
by  owners  in  their  congregations,  or  committed 
by  persons  going  forth  from  their  communi- 
ties. 

Let  them,  as  the  constituted  expounders  of 
tne  law  of  God,  and  the  guardians  of  public 
morals  and  religion,  boldly  attack  this  sin,  and 
show  its  contrariety  to  the  Divine  law  and  the 
Gospel  of  Christ.  Let  ministerial  associations 
and  societies,  formed  to  promote  the  better  ob- 
servance of  the  Lord's  day,  pass  resolutions  ex- 
pressing their  sense  of  this  sin.  Let  fathers, 


His   CAPTORS.  253 

Appeal  to  Fathers,  Ship-owners,  Captains,  Seamen,  &c. 

whose  sons  go  down  upon  the  sea  in  ships,  pro- 
test against  a  practice  by  which  those  sons  are 
rendered  Sabbath  breakers,  and  the  high,  home- 
bred estimate  in  which  they  have  been  taught 
to  hold  that  sacred  day  obliterated,  and  the  way 
opened  for  any  and  all  degrees  of  moral  depra- 
vation to  which  that  sin  is  the  natural  initia- 
tion. 

Let  ship-owners,  as  they  fear  God  and  have 
a  regard  to  the  judgment,  separate  themselves 
from  this  iniquity  by  positively  instructing  their 
agents  not  to  whale  on  the  Sabbath  day.  We 
call  upon  captains  and  officers  to  exercise  the 
manly  independence  and  regard  for  their  rights 
to  say  that  they  will  not  sail  except  in  Sabbath- 
keeping  ships;  and  we  call  upon  the  men  to 
stipulate  beforehand  that  they  shall  be  allowed 
the  rest  of  the  Sabbath.  We  call  upon  the  ed- 
itors of  respectable  journals,  in  whaling  ports 
and  elsewhere,  to  discuss  the  propriety  of  this 
practice.  We  ask  religious  men  and  good  cit- 
izens there  to  express,  in  the  intercourse  of  pri- 
vate life,  their  sense  of  the  wrongfulness  of  so 
plain  a  desecration  of  the  Christian  Sabbath. 

It  is  every  where  popular,  at  this  day,  to  praise 
our  Puritan  ancestry,  and,  under  God,  to  as- 


254  THE   WHALE    AND 

Common  to  praise  a  Puritan  Ancestry.  Puritan  Morals. 

cribe  our  liberty,  and  every  thing  that  is  dear 
to  us,  to  their  high  principles  and  their  consci- 
entious practical  regard  to  right.  But  with 
how  many,  it  is  to  be  feared,  is  it  like  the  Jews 
building  the  sepulchres  of  the  prophets,  or  like 
the  base  •  Athenians  giving  the  hemlock  to  the 
virtuous  living  Socrates,  and  decreeing  a  statue 
and  panegyric  to  upright  Phocion,  whom  they 
had  themselves  put  to  death. 

For  it  has  come  to  pass  that  an  institution 
which  our  fathers  held  in  highest  reverence  and 
kept  with  strictest  care,  is  now,  both  by  precept 
and  political  statute  and  example,  sadly  dese- 
crated, and  that,  too,  with  a  boldness  and  pub- 
licity that  prove  how  wide  and  general  is  our 
departure,  both  from  their  stern  principles  and 
severe  Christian  morals.  A  noble  New  England 
ancestry  is  justly  a  nation's  boast ;  nor  can  the 
praise  of  our  pious  forefathers  ever  become  too 
popular,  or  their  memory  be  held  in  too  high 
regard ;  but  we  would  like  better  to  witness  a 
revival  of  their  grave  manners,  and  to  see  a  ho- 
lier regard  paid  to  that  sacred  institution  which 
they  prized  and  guarded  above  all  others,  and 
therefore  have  we  endeavored  to  draw  attention 
to  one  form  of  its  desecration,  that  is  doing  not 


His   CAPTORS.  255 

Supposed  Remonstrance  of  a  Delegation  of  Puritans. 

a  little  to  vitiate  public  morals,  and  impair  that 
high  sense  of  the  Sabbath's  sacredness  which  it 
is  of  vital  importance  to  have  maintained. 

If  the  spirits  of  some  of  those  upright  old 
Puritans  were  now  again  to  come  among  us, 
and  see  the  whale  ships  of  New  England  un- 
scrupulously profaning  God's  holy  day,  steam- 
boats and  locomotives  running,  and  stage- 
coaches carrying  the  Sabbath  mail,  would  they 
not  be  likely  to  reproach  us  in  accommodated 
language  like  this  ?  In  vain  we  made  ourselves 
exiles,  for  conscience  and  the  love  of  God,  from 
the  servile  kingdoms  of  Europe.  In  vain  we 
crossed  the  boisterous  ocean,  found  a  new  world, 
and  prepared  it  for  the  happy  residence  of  civil 
and  religious  liberty.  In  vain  we  toiled;  we 
bled  in  vain,  if  you,  our  offspring,  thus  need 
principle  and  purpose  to  maintain  inviolate  the 
sanctity  of  the  Sabbath,  and  to  defend  the  ob- 
servance of  that  hallowed  institution,  which  we 
kept  so  strictly,  against  the  encroachments  of 
hurrying  worldliness  and  greedy  gain.  The 
blessed  institutions  we  transmitted  you  can  not 
long  survive  the  desecration  of  that  holy  day, 
when,  too,  the  penitentiaries  and  pauper-houses 
of  Europe  are  disgorging  upon  your  fair  domain. 


256  THE  WHALE   AND 

Scoresby's  Experience  of  Sabbath  Keeping  in  a  Whale  Ship 

Up,  and  rescue  it  from  profanation,  or  your  pre- 
cious patrimony  of  liberty  is  gone  ! 

The  veteran  Captain  Scoresby,  who,  by  age, 
and  experience,  and  judgment,  is  entitled  to 
speak  on  this  subject  with  authority  (having 
gone  through  twenty-eight  of  those  perilous 
voyages  successfully,  and  killed  four  hundred 
and  ninety-eight  whales),  says  that,  in  the 
Greenland  whale  fishery,  much  more  perplex- 
ing, and  more  subject  to  sudden  embarrass- 
ments and  dangers  than  the  voyages  com- 
monly pursued,  "  I  have  known  public  worship 
to  be  carried  on  so  regularly  that  never  a  Sab- 
bath passed  over,  for  several  years  together, 
without  one  or  more  full  services  being  per- 
formed. During  these  voyages  severe  gales 
have  commenced  on  the  Sunday ;  dangers  from 
rocks,  ice,  and  lee  shores  have  threatened ;  fre- 
quent embarrassments  from  thick  weather  have 
occurred  ;  yet  time  and  opportunity  were  al- 
ways found  for  the  worship  of  God.  The  suc- 
cess of  the  voyage  often  seemed  to  be  in  the 
way,  duty  to  the  owners  of  the  ship  seemed  to 
forbid,  yet  we  persevered  in  waiting  upon  God, 
and  certain  I  am  that  we  found  his  blessing. 

"  At  three  bells  (half  past  nine  A.M.)  every 


His   CAPTORS.  257 

Church  Rigged.          Option  of  the  Men  to  Watch  or  to  Pray. 

Sabbath  morning,  the  hands  were  i  turned  up' 
to  prepare  themselves  for  the  forenoon  service ; 
then,  according  to  the  state  of  the  weather,  or 
the  accommodations  we  had  in  the  ship,  the 
church  was  either  '  rigged'  upon  deck,  or  ar- 
rangements made  for  divine  worship  below. 
At  eleven  the  service  commenced,  and  generally 
concluded  a  few  minutes  after  twelve.  From 
the  calling  of  all  hands  until  this  time,  every 
man  was  on  Sabbath-day  duty  ;  and,  although 
no  man  was  made  to  join  in  the  prayers  against 
his  will,  yet  he  had  only  this  option,  either  to 
watch  or  to  pray. 

"  Before  each  of  our  services,  whenever  the 
weather  was  at  all  unsettled,  the  ship  was  put 
under  a  somewhat  snug  sail,  and,  the  deck  be- 
ing left  to  the  charge  of  the  proper  officer  of 
the  watch,  with  the  assistance  of  the  helms- 
man, all  the  rest  of  the  crew,  or  nearly  all, 
could  generally  be  spared  to  join  the  public 
prayers.  When,  indeed,  there  was  any  proba- 
bility of  squalls,  or  of  any  change  being  requi- 
site in  the  sails,  some  few  of  the  proper  watch 
were  placed  within  observation  of  the  officer 
on  deck,  so  as  to  be  easily  called  up  without 
disturbing  their  comrades.  But,  if  circum- 
R 


THE    WHALE    AND 


Make  ready  for  Sabbath  on  Saturday.         A  noble  Example. 

stances  required,  though  for  several  years  no 
such  case  occurred,  the  officer  had  orders  to 
call  up  all  hands  to  assist  him. 

"  To  the  end  of  furthering  the  important  ob- 
ject of  sanctifying  the  Sabbath,  it  is  good  to 
remember  it  before  it  arrives.  Prepare  for  the 
day  of  rest,  as  far  as  you  can,  on  the  Saturday. 
Let  your  men  have  time  on  Saturday  evening 
for  those  needful  acts  of  personal  cleanliness 
which  are  better  performed  then  than  in  the 
morning,  so  that  the  Lord's  day  be  not  unnec- 
essarily broken  in  upon  by  these  preparations. 
In  every  nautical  duty  which  requires  atten- 
tion on  Sunday  morning,  bear  in  mind  the 
hours  fixed  for  divine  worship,  that  every  work 
which  can  possibly  be  anticipated  may  be  com- 
pleted. If  your  flying  sails  be  taken  in,  your 
retirement  will  be  more  comfortable  and  secure, 
and  you  will  seldom  or  never  find  the  loss  in 
your  voyage.  The  Lord's  blessing  will  abun- 
dantly recompense  this  and  every  sacrifice 
made  for  his  sake. 

"  Then  call  your  men  together,  as  far  as  pos- 
sible, at  the  appointed  hour,  either  in  the  cabin 
or  on  the  deck,  as  may  be  most  comfortable. 
Again,  in  the  afternoon,  let  your  crew  and  pas- 


His   CAPTORS.  261 

Benefits  of  the  Lord's  Day.  Verification  of  God's  Word 

sengers,  if  any,  have  the  opportunity  of  wor- 
shiping the  Most  High  God,  who  made  the 
heavens,  the  earth,  and  the  wide  sea;  and, 
whether  it  be  convenient  to  have  any  other 
service  for  the  benefit  of  your  apprentices  or 
not,  you  will  find  it  a  good  thing  thus  to  wait 
upon  the  Lord.  You  will  experience  a  benefit 
temporally  as  well  as  spiritually  ;  your  people 
will  be  more  orderly  and  respectful,  and  Al- 
mighty God  will  be  your  shield  and  your  ex- 
ceeding great  reward.  Yea,  if  thou  acquaint 
thyself  with  him  and  return  unto  him,  the  Al- 
mighty shall  be  thy  defense  ;  for  then  shalt 
thou  delight  thyself  in  the  Almighty,  and  shalt 
lift  up  thy  face  unto  God ;  and  thou  shalt 
make  thy  prayer  unto  him,  and  he  shall  hear 
thee." 

Now  what  rational  subject  of  Almighty  God 
can  doubt  this,  having  for  it  His  own  WORD  ! 
And  what  ship-master  or  common  mariner  will 
turn  a  leaden  ear  to  this  testimony  and  expos- 
tulation of  one  of  their  own  craft,  to  whom  a 
long  and  varied  experience  gives  a  right  to  be 
heard  and  regarded.  Considerations  like  these, 
we  fully  believe,  will  yet  have  their  weight 
upon  owners,  officers,  and  men.  The  sea  shall 


262  THE   WHALE   AND 

A  good  Time  coming.  Commerce  shall  be  Religious. 

yot  have  its  Sabbath  ;  the  holy  Lord's  day  shall 
be  rescued  from  profanation  by  the  great  whal- 
ing and  merchant  fleets  ;  the  abundance  of  the 
seas  shall  be  converted  to  God,  and  to  the  ob- 
servance especially  of  this  great  ordinance  of 
creation's  Lord,  THOU  SHALT  REMEMBER  THE 
SABBATH  DAY  TO  KEEP  IT  HOLY. 

There's  a  good  time  coming  for  seamen,  and 
that,  we  trust,  not  far.  We  thankfully  recog- 
nize the  law  of  progress  and  reform  as  true  of 
them,  and  already  remarkably  developed  in  this 
day.  We  gladly  share  in  the  cheering  faith  of 
Dr.  Bushnell,  that  the  time  is  at  hand  when  all 
that  pertains  to  commerce  is  to  be  sanctified  by 
virtue  and  religion,  as  of  right  it  should  be ; 
"  when,  commerce  itself  shall  become  religious, 
and  religion  commercial;  when  the  mariners 
will  be  blended  with  all  the  other  worshipers 
on  shore,  in  the  exercise  of  common  privileges, 
and  as  members  of  a  common  brotherhood ; 
when  the  ships  will  have  their  Sabbath,  and 
become  temples  of  praise  on  the  deep ;  when 
habits  of  temperance  and  banks  for  saving  will 
secure  them  in  thrift,  and  assist  to  give  them 
character ;  when  they  will  no  more  live  an  un- 
connected, isolated,  and  therefore  reckless  life, 


His    CAPTORS.  263 


Mariners  to  be  Missionaries.  How  to  be  brought  about. 

but  will  have  their  wives  and  children  vested 
here  and  there,  in  some  neat  cottage  among  the 
hills,  to  be  to  them,  when  abroad,  the  anchor 
of  their  affections,  and  the  security  of  their 
virtue  ;  when  they  will  go  forth  also  to  distant 
climes  and  barbarous  shores,  with  all  their  no- 
ble and  generous  traits  sanctified  by  religion,  to 
represent  the  beauty  of  Christ  to  men,  and  be- 
come examples  of  all  that  is  good  and  beneficent 
in  his  Gospel.  Be  it  ours  to  aid  a  purpose  so 
desirable,  theirs  to  realize  it  in  their  conduct 
and  character." 

Realized,  we  believe,  it  will  be  in  the  world's 
cheering  progress,  and  that  ere  long,  when  MAR- 
INERS shall  be  missionaries  from  shore  to  shore, 
from  the  river  to  the  ends  of  the  earth  ;  when 
the  isles  shall  wait  God's  law  at  their  hands, 
and  continents,  long  wrapped  in  the  darkness 
of  paganism,  shall  be  thrown  wide  open  to  mes- 
sengers of  salvation,  borne  and  backed  by  those 
that  go  down  to  the  sea  in  ships,  and  do  busi- 
ness in  the  great  waters! 

Lord  !  for  those  days  we  wait ;  those  days 

Are  in  thy  word  foretold. 
Fly  swifter,  sun  and  stars,  and  bring 

This  promised  age  of  gold. 


264  THE    WHALE    AND 

Mariner's  Millennium  through  the  Telescope  of  Poetry. 

u , 

Peace,  with  her  olive  crown,  shall  stretch 

Her  winga  from  shore  to  shore  ; 
The  nations  of  the  earth  shall  hear 

The  sound  of  war  no  more. 

Beneath  the  influence  of  HIS  grace, 

The  barren  waste  shall  rise, 
With  sudden  green  and  fruits  array'd — 

A  blooming  Paradise. 

Then  shall  bless'd  seamen  sing  and  tell 

Of  all  Emanuel's  love  ! 
AND  SEA  AND  LAND,  IN  SABBATH  LIGHT, 

SHALL  SHINE  LIKE  HEAVEN  ABOVE  1 


His   CAPTORS.  265 

Hopes  and  Fears  of  a  Wanderer  in  coming  Home. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

NEARING  HOME  AND  ANALOGIES  FROM  THE  SEA. 

When  one  returneth  from  a  distant  land, 

Where  he  hath  been  in  pilgrimage  afar, 
And  seeks  once  more,  his  wanderings  done,  to  stand 

Beneath  the  brightness  of  his  country's  star, 
It  is  with  beating  heart  and  joyful  eyes 

He  views  the  long-remember'd  scenes  again, 
The  mountains  far,  ascending  to  the  skies, 

The  verdant  hills  more  near,  the  flowering  plain, 

The  willow-shaded  stream,  the  fields  of  golden  grain. 

T.  C.  U. 

Inside  Nantucket  Shoals. 

IF  a  man  be  coming  off  a  long  voyage,  or  from 
a  lengthened  absence  in  any  foreign  land, 
without  having  been  so  fixed  as  to  allow  of  a 
frequent  interchange  of  letters  with  those  that 
are  dear  to  him,  he  must  be  singularly  stupid 
not  to  have  throng  thick  into  his  mind  many 
thoughts,  hopes,  and  fears,  imaginations  and 
apprehensions,  as  he  nears  his  native  shores. 
There  are  few  so  alone  in  the  world  as  not  to 
have  some  dear  friends  to  love  and  be  anxious 
about ;  and  two  or  three  years  will  often  make 


266  THE   WHALE  AND 


Blended  Anxiety  and  Joy.  E'en  in  the  Haven's  Mouth. 

sad  ravages  in  even  the  smallest  circles.  All 
this  every  one  that  has  had  much  experience 
of  life's  realities  thinks  about,  and  hopes,  and 
fears ;  and  the  flutter  of  blended  anxiety  and 
joy  increases  the  nearer  one  gets  to  his  father- 
land. 

Moreover,  it  is  true,  as  matter  of  fact,  that 
dangers  actually  multiply  as  you  make  tha  land ; 
and  you  think  how  many  events  may  step  yet 
between  you  and  home  ;  and  you  remember 
how  many  that  have  braved  the  dangers  of 
foreign  travel,  and  remote,  inhospitable  seas, 
have  been  lost  in  returning,  on  the  rocks  and 
breakers  of  their  own  rude  coast.  You  call  to 
mind  those  lines  of  Dante  : 

For  I  have  seen  the  bark,  that  all  day  long 
Sail'd  straight  and  steady,  perish  at  last, 
Even  in  the  haven's  mouth  ! 

There  is  not  a  captain  out  of  Massachusetts 
Bay,  coming  in  from  the  southward  and  east- 
ward, from  a  long  voyage,  a  little  in  doubt,  per- 
haps, about  his  chronometer,  that  does  not  dread 
to  cross  that  fog-covered  George's  Bank,  be- 
tween Scylla  on  one  side  and  Charybdis  on 
the  other,  the  George's  Shoal  on  the  right,  and 
that  fatal  Nantucket  South  Shoal  on  the  left. 


His   CAPTORS.  267 


Between  Scylla  and  Charybdis.          Edge  of  the  Gulf  Stream. 

We  suddenly  emerged  from  the  warm  water 
of  the  Gulf  Stream  right  into  the  mist  and  cold 
of  George's  Bank,  and  a  heavy  northeast  gale, 
in  which  we  had  to  lay  to  during  a  most  tem- 
pestuous night,  and  were  drifted  a  long  ways 
to  leeward,  so  as  to  be  in  no  little  danger,  un- 
certain as  we  needs  must  be  of  our  whereabouts, 
and  our  sails  being  so  old  and  rotten  that  it 
would  have  been  impossible  to  beat  off  a  lee 
shore.  (Another  ship  and  two  schooners  were 
wrecked  upon  the  shoal  in  this  same  gale.) 
Day  before  yesterday  there  were  occasional 
glimpses  of  the  sun,  just  enough  to  give  us 
doubtful  observations,  as  his  disk  could  be 
caught  behind  the  dense  flying  scud, 

Dim  through  the  horizontal  misty  air, 
Shorn  of  his  beams. 

But  there  has  been  blue  sky  visible  only  once 
since  getting  out  of  the  Gulf.  It  was  a  dense 
Scotch  mist,  or  else  a  downright  rain  all  the 
time,  and  quite  as  cold  here  in  May  as  off  Cape 
Horn  in  January. 

Sabbath  night,  however,  after  a  day  of  al- 
most entire  calm, 

Sounding  on  our  dim  and  perilous  way, 

through  fog  and  cold,  a  favorable  breeze  sprang 


268  THE    WHALE   AND 

Clear  and  Cold.  Land  ho !  Cape  Cod  Light. 

up  at  eight  in  the  evening,  by  favor  of  which 
we  passed  safely  those  dangerous  shoals  when 
we  could  not  see  them,  trusting  only  to  lead 
and  line.  From  our  position  at  that  time  we 
steered  first  northeast,  then  north-northeast, 
then  north,  then  north-northwest,  then  north- 
west, so  rounding  those  obscure  and  formida- 
ble dangers,  sounding  every  hour. 

This  morning  the  light  broke  clear  and  cold, 
and  it  has  been  a  glorious  day.  We  made  the 
dear  land  of  New  England  about  three  in  the 
afternoon.  Not  long  after  we  discovered  Chat- 
ham light-house  all  as  we  desired,  and  have 
been  gladly  running  up  Pilgrim  land  ever  since, 
until  now,  at  nine  o'clock,  the  noble,  large,  and 
steady  light  of  Cape  Cod  bears  about  west. 

The  weary,  weather-worn  company  in  the 
May  Flower,  we  have  just  been  saying,  had  no 
such  friendly  beacons  as  this  to  shed  light  on 
their  way  when  they  came  as  pilgrims  to  a 
rock-bound  and  rude  land.  It  is  spring,  too, 
with  us,  but  we  remember, 


That  through  her  chafed  and  moaning  shrouds  December's  breezes  wailed. 
Yet  on  that  icy  deck,  behold !  a  meek  but  dauntless  band, 
Who,  for  the  right  to  worship  God,  have  left  their  native  land, 
And  to  a  dreary  wilderness  this  glorious  boon  they  bring, 

A  CHURCH  WITHOUT  A  BISHOP,  AND  A  STATE  WITHOUT  A  KINO. 


His  CAPTORS.  269 


Last  Cabin  Meetings.  Better  than  Spermaceti, 

I  preached  for  the  last  time,  it  is  likely,  at  sea, 
yesterday  afternoon.  This  evening  we  have  had 
a  very  happy  prayer -meeting,  and  probably  our 
final  one  on  shipboard.  The  captain,  a  boat- 
steerer,  one  of  the  fore-mast  hands,  and  myself, 
led  each  successively  in  fervent  supplication  and 
thanks  to  the  throne  of  grace.  The  two  first 
have  been  converted  during  this  absence  from 
home,  and  they  return  evidently  regenerated  by 
the  grace  of  God.  Would  that  every  pro/ es sing- 
ship-master  gave  as  good  evidence  of  possessing1 
the  reality  of  religion  as  ours. 

When,  lately,  we  were  in  the  midst  of  a  herd 
of  sperm  whales,  it  was  my  inward  earnest 
prayer  that  God  would  give  him  good  success 
in  their  capture,  in  order  that  he  might  yet  re- 
alize a  profitable  voyage  for  his  owners  at  its 
close,  and  enter  port  with  a  full  ship,  after  all  its 
first  losses  and  misfortunes.  Through  no  fault 
of  his,  however,  this  was  not  so  to  be.  But  the 
voyage  has  been  productive  to  him,  personally, 
of  a  better  portion  than  many  ship-loads  all  of 
spermaceti,  for  he  has  found  during  the  course 
of  it,  and  partly  through  the  very  discipline  of 
disappointment,  the  pearl  of  great  price,  which 
he  would  not  now  part  with  for  the  wealth  of 


270  THE  WHALE  AND 

A  Pearl  of  great  Price.  Thankful  Acknowledgments. 

the  Indies  or  all  California's  gold.  May  he  only 
keep  it  always,  and  find  it  to  yield  him  a  con- 
stant revenue  of  peace  and  joy  ! 

We  have  prayed  and  labored  long  in  hope  of 
a  work  of  grace  in  the  forecastle ;  but  the  power 
and  mercy  of  God  have  not  been  shown  that 
way,  and  there  the  men  remain,  and  officers  too, 
dead  in  trespasses  and  sins  ;  hardened,  I  fear, 
by  the  very  means  of  grace  they  have  slighted, 
and  the  invitations  and  pleadings  they  have 
scorned.  Alas !  it  is  they  only  that  will  be  the 
sufferers,  as  it  is  they  only  who  are  to  blarne  for 
neglecting  so  great  salvation  ! 

We  are  trusting  now,  in  God's  good  provi- 
dence, to  hail  Boston  Light  by  to-morrow  even- 
ing, rejoicing  and  thankful  to  say  once  more, 

This  is  my  own,  my  native  land ! 

To  God  be  our  grateful  acknowledgments  for 
all  the  mercies  of  this  pleasant  voyage,  two 
hundred  and  thirty-six  days  to-morrow  from  the 
Sandwich  Islands,  eighty  from  Rio  de  Janeiro, 
where  we  put  in  for  supplies. 

The  engrossing  earnestness  with  which  our 
captain,  for  a  few  days  past,  has  studied  the 
chart  and  watched  the  soundings,  in  order  to 


His  CAPTORS.  273 

The  Captain  Sounding.  Spiritual  Lesson  learned. 

make  his  way  safely  to  port,  may  teach  a  les- 
son, I  have  thought,  of  the  way  in  which  we 
should  all  study  and  watch  the  answers  of  God's 
word  and  prayer  as  we  prosecute  the  voyage  of 
life,  having  to  steer  by  a  thousand  rocks,  and 
shoals,  and  quicksands  before  we  can  make  the 
port  of  peace.  He  would  himself  carefully  put 
the  tallow  or  soap  into  the  hollowed  end  of  the 
lead,  then  heave  it  himself,  or  hold  the  line,  and 
carefully  ascertain  when  it  reached  the  bottom  ; 
then  he  would  scrutinize  it  closely  when  hauled 
up,  to  see  what  report  it  brought  from  the  bot- 
tom, whether  it  were  sand,  or  gravel,  or  mud, 
or  ooze  adhering  to  the  end,  or  whether  it  were 
dented,  as  if  it  had  fallen  on  rocks. 

Then  he  would  go  and  sit  down  to  his  chart, 
with  compass,  and  slate,  and  slide,  to  compare 
what  he  had  found  with  what  he  was  told  there, 
in  order  to  fix,  if  possible,  upon  his  position  on 
the  great  shoal,  and  shape  his  course  accord- 
ingly for  the  next  hour.  Then  he  would  lay 
down  on  the  transom,  in  his  great  watch-coat, 
to  catch  half  an  hour's  sleep,  with  the  chart  un- 
rolled before  him  on  the  cabin  table,  and  a  lan- 
tern swinging  over  it  with  a  sperm  candle,  a 
thing  we  had  not  had  before  for  the  voyage. 
S 


274  THE  WHALE  AND 

Navigating  for  Eternity.  Chart  of  the  Word  of  God. 

Now  with  the  same  carefulness,  it  has  seem- 
ed to  me,  should  we  all  ponder  the  Word  of  God, 
that  we  may  be  shaping  our  course  aright  over 
the  tempestuous  sea  of  life,  where 

Dangers  of  every  shape  and  name 
Attend  the  followers  of  the  Lamb. 

Yea,  not  only  when  we  are  exceedingly  tossed 
with  a  tempest,  and  neither  sun  nor  stars  for 
many  days  do  appear,  but  in  the  clearest  weather 
and  the  best  of  times,  how  seldom  is  it,  in  our 
navigation  for  eternity,  that  we  are  not  in  peril 
from  some  out-jutting  reef,  or  shoal,  or  sunken 
rock,  or  moving  quicksand ;  to  avoid  which  we 
must  heave  the  lead  and  watch  our  soundings, 
and  study  well  the  Chart,  and  trim  our  sails, 
and  keep  a  good  look-out.  I  thank  God  that 
our  captain,  Lafayette  Ludlow,  has  done  both 
on  the  present  voyage. 

With  the  same  steadiness  and  absorption  that 
he  now  studied  his  chart,  and  worked  and  re- 
worked his  observations,  and  compared  and  re- 
viewed his  results,  he  used  to  study  and  pray 
over  the  divine  Word  till  God  showed  him  the 
way  of  salvation  by  faith  in  Christ,  and  he  got 
his  anchor  on  the  promises,  that  proved  good 
holding  ground.  I  trust  he  will  keep  fast  to 


His  CAPTORS.  275 

Anchored  on  the  Promises.  The  Heart's  Prayer. 

them  for  life,  be  buoyed  up  by  them  in  death, 
and  afterward  be  received  up  unto  glory,  where 
faith  is  met  with  fruition,  and  the  ransomed  of 
the  Lord  return  and  come  to  Zion  with  songs  of 
everlasting  joy.  May  he  and  I,  and  those  who 
are  dear  to  me,  and  many  that  have  followed  us, 
it  may  be  with  interest,  through  this  gallery  of 
Daguerreotypes,  be  found  in  that  blessed  com- 
pany when  the  voyage  of  life  is  up  ! 

When,  soon  or  late,  we  reach  that  coast, 

O'er  life's  rough  ocean  driven, 
May  we  rejoice,  no  wanderer  lost, 

BLESS'D  WORSHIPERS  IN  HEAVEN  ! 


276  THE   WHALE    AND 


Melancholy  Wreck  discovered  in  the  Gulf  Stream. 


CHAPTER  XVIIL 

KNITTING  UP  THE    LESSONS  OF  THE   VOYAGE   AT  ITS 
CLOSE. 

I  saw  a  wreck  upon  the  ocean  flood. 

How  sad  and  desolate  !     No  man  was  there  ; 
No  living  thing  was  on  it.    There  it  stood ; 

Its  sails  all  gone ;  its  masts  were  standing  bare : 
Toss'd  on  the  wide,  the  boundless,  howling  sea  ! 

The  very  sea-birds  scream'd,  and  pass'd  it  by. 
And  as  I  look'd,  the  ocean  eeem'd  to  be 

A  sign  and  figure  of  Eternity. 
THE  WRECK  AN  EMBLEM  SEEM'D  of  those  that  eail 

Without  the  pilot,  Jesus,  on  its  tide. 
Thus,  thought  I,  when  the  final  storms  prevail, 

Shall  rope,  and  sail,  and  mast  be  scatter'd  wide  I 
And  they,  with  helm  and  anchor  lost,  be  driven, 
In  endless  exile  sad,  far  from  the  port  of  Heaven ! 

T.  C.  UJPHAM. 

Rounding  Cape  Cod,  Massachusetts  Bay. 

TN  all  probability,  this  beautiful  sonnet  must 
-*-  have  been  written  somewhere  at  sea,  just 
after  passing  such  a  wreck  as  we  met  with  a 
few  days  ago  in  the  Gulf  Stream.  Such  sad 
things  (and  they  are  melancholy  objects,  indeed, 
to  behold  at  sea)  are  often  fallen  in  with  there. 
Perhaps  more  wrecks  are  made  within,  and  at 


His   CAPTORS.  277 

The  Wrecks  of  Opinions  in  Philosophy  and  Religion. 

the  edges  of  the  Gulf  Stream,  than  in  any  other 
part  of  the  ocean ;  squalls  are  so  violent  there, 
the  lightning  so  terrific,  and  the  wind  and  cur- 
rent so  often  opposed,  as  to  raise  an  ugly,  chop- 
ping, "  head-beat"  sea,  that,  if  long  continued, 
will  beat  to  pieces,  or  start  dangerous  leaks  in 
the  very  best  of  ships. 

Wrecks,  too,  once  made  there,  and  ships 
abandoned  without  foundering,  will  stay^for  a 
long  time  in  the  course  of  the  stream,  being 
carried  along  and  kept  within  it  by  the  force 
of  the  current.  Some  captains  think  that  the 
same  wreck  may  sometimes  go  the  whole  round 
of  the  stream,  being  kept  along  in  it  to  where 
it  is  lost,  or  turns  southward  by  the  Western 
Islands,  then  taken  by  the  current  from  the 
north,  and  borne  to  the  south  and  west  by  the 
northeast  trades,  until  it  falls  into  the  identical 
Gulf  Stream  again,  or  a  current  sitting  into 
it  off  the  Windward  Islands  of  the  West  In- 
dies. 

Just  so  in  the  political,  religious,  and  philo- 
sophical world,  you  will  see  the  wrecks  of  certain 
errors  and  fallacies  exploded,  dismasted,  water- 
logged, or  quite  foundered  in  one  age,  reappear 
in  another  on  the  revolving  current  of  opinion. 


278  THE   WHALE   AND 

Safer  to  scud  before  a  Tempest  of  Sorrow  than  to  lie  to. 

After  having  floated  off  in  to  obscurity,  and  been 
quite  lost  sight  of  for  a  time,  they  will  come 
round  again,  and  perhaps  be  taken  up  and  tow- 
ed into  port  by  some  political  novice  or  dema- 
gogue, or  transcendental  speculator,  pretending 
to  great  originality  of  genius,  or  by  some  novel- 
ty-hunter in  religion ;  by  them  re-ribbed,  calked, 
and  coppered,  perhaps  razeed,  and  set  afloat 
anew  upon  the  tide  of  speculation,  with  a  great 
boast  of  newness  and  a  mighty  press  of  can- 
vass. 

As  I  happen  to  be  in  the  mood  for  illustra- 
tions, I  can  not  help  writing  out  one  that  oc- 
curred to  me  lately  while  observing  the  be- 
havior and  management  of  our  ship  in  the  last 
severe  gale.  The  conclusion  we  all  came  to 
was,  that  a  ship  in  a  storm  or  heavy  sea  must 
have  sail  enough  on  to  run  away  from  the 
waves  and  surmount  them,  or  she  will  be  bur- 
ied by  them,  broaching  to  and  being  boarded  by 
a  disastrous  wave. 

So  with  the  religious  mind  in  the  great  waves 
of  affliction,  when  the  waters  roar  and  are  troub- 
led— mens'  hearts  failing  them  for  fear  and  for 
looking  after  those  things  which  are  coming,  it 
is  often  not  so  well  and  safe  to  lie  to  and  wait  for 


His   CAPTORS.  279 

Faith  illustrated  by  the  Experience  of  a  Young  Ship-master. 

a  lull,  brooding  meanwhile  upon  one's  trouble, 
and  anxiously  casting  eyes  over  what  seems  to 
be  a  great,  heaving  waste  of  impending  advers- 
ity, as  to  keep  busy,  if  possible,  with  carrying 
sail,  and  trying  to  scud  before  the  gale. 

I  have  learned,  too,  in  the  course  of  this  voy- 
age, that  a  ship's  sails  or  rigging  wear  out  more 
in  a  calm  than  in  a  gale.  So  the  mind  wears 
out  faster  in  indolence  or  inglorious  rest,  than 
in  well-braced  nervous  activity  and  productive- 
ness. 

Here  also  is  an  illustration  of  the  workings 
of  faith  gathered  from  the  experience  of  a  young 
shipmaster.  In  first  navigating  a  ship  by  chro- 
nometer and  lunars,  until  he  has  learned  to  live 
by  faith  in  his  observations,  and  the  few  figures 
he  makes  daily  on  his  slate,  with  the  tables  of 
the  Nautical  Almanao,  he  is  uneasy,  doubtful, 
anxious,  and  will  work  his  longitude  over  and 
over  again,  though  sure  there  is  no  mistake,  so 
hard  is  it  practically  to  live  on  faith — that  which 
is  unseen,  and  for  which  we  have  no  evidence 
of  the  senses,  until  a  habit  is  formed :  so  strange 
is  it  to  be  steering  one's  way  straight  over  the 
trackless  ocean,  without  any  way-marks,  or 
sign-posts,  or  mile-stones,  or  any  thing  by  which 


280  THE   WHALE   AND 

Life  Lines  to  Mariners  what  the  Promises  are  to  Christians. 

we  can  see  that  we  are  right  or  wrong.  It  is 
not  until  a  captain  has  made  three  or  four  good 
land-falls,  at  wide  intervals,  and  just  according 
to  his  calculations,  that  living  by  faith  in  his 
chronometer  and  observations,  and  the  results 
upon  his  slate  begins  to  come  easy. 

Even  so,  I  have  thought,  in  the  very  nature 
of  things,  it  is  the  experienced  Christian  only 
that  can  live  perfectly  the  life  of  faith.  Use 
must  have  practically  convinced  him  of  the  re- 
liability of  things  unseen  and  eternal,  before  it 
can  become  the  habit  of  his  mind  to  navigate 
confidently  the  ocean  of  life,  independent  of 
sense. 

While  thinking  much,  lately,  of  life  as  a  voy- 
age, and  every  Christian  the  voyager  that  will 
soon  be  as  close  to  the  port  of  heaven  as,  I 
trust,  we  now  are  to  our  desired  haven  in  Mas- 
sachusetts Bay,  it  has  seemed  to  my  mind  that 
the  promises  are  to  the  Christian  voyager  what 
"  life-lines"  are  to  the  sailor,  for  him  to  hold  by 
to  the  yard  when  reefing  or  taking  in  sail,  and 
to  keep  him  from  falling  off.  Yet,  strange  to 
say,  many  ships'  yards  are  left  without  this 
protection  for  the  exposed  sailor,  by  reason  of 
which  many  a  poor  fellow  in  a  storm  is  shaken 


His   CAPTORS.  281 

All  must  cling  to  them.          The  Albatross  and  the  Christian. 

off  that  might  have  clung  to  the  "  life-line" 
had  it  been  in  its  place  at  hand. 

So  Christians  sometimes  attempt  the  course 
of  a  Christian,  and  go  to  sailing  over  the  troub- 
led sea  of  life  without  being  provided  with  the 
promises,  without  having  learned  how,  or  hav- 
ing them  at  hand,  hidden  in  their  hearts,  to  use 
and  cling  to  in  a  storm.  In  good  weather  and 
ordinary  times  they  get  along  without  them, 
and  do  not  feel  the  want ;  but  let  a  storm  arise, 
the  wind  blow  fiercely,  the  sails  be  flapping, 
then  it  is  they  want  the  "life-lines,"  and  are 
distressed  and  lost  without  them.  Yea,  it  is 
not  possible  for  the  oldest  and  most  experienced 
Christian  to  live  without  a  constant  clinging  to 
the  promises,  still  less  is  it  for  younger  and 
more  recent  pilgrims  :  like  a  young  sailor-boy, 
they  must  hold  fast  to  the  life-line  of  God's 
word,  or  they  are  sure  to  fall. 

Sometimes  there  happens,  even  to  praying, 
faithful  Christians,  what  is  true  of  large  sea- 
birds.  When  in  the  Pacific,  we  used  some- 
times, by  hook  and  line  thrown  astern,  to  catch 
that  most  majestic  and  beautiful  of  all  birds  on 
the  wing,  the  superb  white-winged  albatross, 
I  observed  that  of  itself  it  could  never  rise  from 


282  THE  WHALE   AND 

Taking  Wing.        Pinions  of  Faith.        Night-mare  of  Doubt. 

the  even  surface  of  the  deck  and  soar  aloft, 
though  unconfined  and  at  liberty  ;  but  we  must 
toss  the  noble  bird  overboard,  and  lift  him  quite 
clear  of  the  ship's  rail,  before  he  could  use  his 
glorious  pinions  and  mount  aloft  into  the  air. 
Then  he  would  stretch  those  ample  wings,  and 
sail  away  through  the  ocean  of  space  as  easily 
as  one  breathes,  and  as  if  the  elastic  element 
of  air  and  the  bird  were  one,  making  the  gazer 
wonder,  and  fairly  long  to  be  taking  the  same 
aerial  flight. 

Even  so  is  it,  in  the  economy  of  grace,  now 
and  then,  with  the  real  Christian.  He  is 
brought  by  Providence  into  straits  and  perplex- 
ities whence  he  can  not  rise  and  extricate  him- 
self alone  ;  where  the  wings  of  faith  and  love 
seem  to  be  of  no  avail  to  him,  until  a  friendly 
hand  lifts  him  up,  and  throws  him  out  upon 
the  deep,  where  he  must  say,  with  Peter,  Lord, 
save ;  I  perish.  Then  he  loses  despair  ;  he 
surmounts  the  difficulty ;  he  breaks  his  prison  ; 
he  mounts  up  as  on  eagle's  wings ;  the  pinions 
of  faith  and  love  sustain  him,  and  bear  him 
away  aloft ;  and  he  wonders  now  at  the  night- 
mare of  doubt  and  fear  that  kept  him  from 
using  them  before. 


His   CAPTORS.  283 

Trembling  of  the  Compass  Needle  in  the  beginning  of  a  Storm. 

He  is  ashamed  of  the  wrong  thoughts  of  God 
that  had  begun  to  gather  and  darken  in  his 
mind  like  gloomy  clouds.  He  sees  that  God 
was  infinitely  wise  and  good  in  appointing  the 
discipline  to  which  he  has  been  subjected ;  and 
those  unuttered,  perhaps,  but  felt  murmurs 
against  the  dispensations  of  Providence,  now 
fill  him  with  sorrow  and  shame.  Peculiar  and 
trying1  as  his  case  may  have  been,  he  now  dis- 
covers many  blessings  and  beneficial  conse- 
quences to  flow  from  it,  which  he  could  not  see 
before.  How  happy  the  man  whose  sight  is 
thus  cleared,  and  his  heart  enlarged  to  trace 
the  manifold  wisdom  and  mercy  of  God  in  dis- 
pensations that  once  seemed  dark  and  unac- 
countable ! 

We  noticed  in  the  late  gale,  and  it  is  often 
observed  by  mariners  in  the  beginning  of  bad 
weather,  before  the  storm  is  fairly  set  in  and 
fixed  in  its  course,  that  the  needle  in  the  com- 
pass-box was  considerably  affected,  and  there 
was  unusual  oscillation,  probably  through  the 
changing  or  disturbance  of  the  atmosphere's 
electric  forces ;  but  after  the  gale  was  fairly 
formed  or  at  its  height,  the  needle  became  true 
again  to  its  polarity. 


284  THE    WHALE   AND 

Magnetism  of  Faith.        The  Christian's  Centre  of  Attraction. 

There  is  an  analogy  to  this  in  the  mind  of  a 
Christian  under  a  storm  of  trial — a  mind  that 
has  been  once  thoroughly  magnetized  by  the 
grace  of  God,  and  stamped  with  the  law  of 
DIVINE  POLARITY,  making  it  to  turn  always  to 
that  POLE-STAR  OF  BETHLEHEM,  the  great  mag- 
net of  the  regenerated  soul.  Though  ordinari- 
ly true  to  his  pole,  yet  in  sudden  emergencies, 
on  the  first  storm-burst  of  trouble,  it  is  seldom 
or  never  that  the  Christian  can  at  once  repress 
the  flutter  and  agitation  of  nature,  control  or 
understand  its  deviations,  collect  his  energies, 
and  repose  calmly  on  God. 

It  is  rare  that  Faith,  taken  by  surprise,  does 
at  once  steady  the  soul,  and  lift  a  man  in  a  mo- 
ment clear  above  hostile  infirmities  and  fears. 
Be  it  true  that,  when  once  magnetized  by  the 
love  of  Christ,  the  soul  does  always  point  up- 
ward by  kindred  strong  attraction,  as  the  com- 
pass-needle to  the  north,  yet,  like  that  same 
needle,  suddenly  acted  upon  by  a  disturbing 
force,  you  must  give  it  time  to  recover  its  bal- 
ance, and,  its  oscillations  done,  to  fasten  upon 
the  central  point  of  rest. 

I  have  sometimes  known  God's  own  dear 
children,  when  calamities  came  suddenly  in 


His   CAPTORS.  285 

Disturbing  Forces.  Oscillations  Over. 

prospect,  when  huge  billows  seemed  ready  to  go 
over  them,  and  a  black  cloud  of  sorrows  was 
about  to  burst  upon  their  heads,  at  first  tremb- 
ling and  anxious,  swinging  a  little  with  trepi- 
dation to  this  side  and  that  of  the  central  point 
of  rest ;  but  as  the  trial  became  more  distinctly 
defined,  the  cloud's  lightning  began  to  flash, 
and  its  big  drops  to  fall,  the  palpitating  heart 
would  be  still,  the  vibrations  of  the  will  would 
cease,  faith  gather  strength,  and  the  eye  of  the 
soul  be  upturned  and  fastened  on  a  faithful 
God,  and  its  hand  grasp  firmly  the  promises, 
which  neither  death  nor  life,  nor  angels,  nor 
principalities,  nor  powers,  nor  things  present, 
nor  things  to  come,  nor  height,  nor  depth,  nor 
any  other  creature,  can  ever  loosen. 

With  an  extract,  now,  from  the  old  poet 
George  Chapman,  lately  met  with  in  my  sea- 
reading,  somewhat  accommodated  and  made 
pertinent  to  our  present  estate  on  shipboard,  on 
the  look-out  for  a  pilot,  these  chapters  of  expe- 
rience and  observation  in  a  whale  ship  must 
come  to  an  end.  The  composition  of  them  in 
the  leaves  of  my  journal  has  been  a  fitting  em- 
ployment for  some  of  the  hours  of  a  long  but 
every  way  profitable  voyage.  May  they  prove 


286  THE   WHALE   AND 

The  End  at  hand.  Christ  the  Christian's  Pilot. 

to  have  ministered  a  portion  of  entertaining 
knowledge  and  pleasure  to  some  on  the  land, 
whom  neither  duty  nor  decaying  health  shall 
ever  reduce  to  a  like  necessity  with  the  writer, 
of  being  an  exile  so  long  from  country  and  home. 
But  if  such  a  necessity  do  exist  in  the  general 
prostration  of  health,  without  organic  disease,  I 
know  of  no  means  so  feasible  and  hopeful  for 
its  restoration  as  a  cruise  in  a  whale  ship,  un- 
der as  favorable  circumstances  as  those  with 
which  I  have  tried  it. 

Man  is  a  torch  borne  in  the  wind  ;  a  dream 

But  of  a  shadow,  summ'd  with  all  his  substance ; 

And  as  great  seamen,  using  all  their  wealth 

And  skills  in  Neptune's  deep  invisible  paths, 

In  tall  ships  richly  built  and  ribb'd  with  brass, 

To  put  a  girdle  round  about  the  world, 

When  they  have  done  it  (coming  near  their  haven), 

Are  fain  to  give  a  warning-piece,  and  call 

A  poor  stayed  fisherman,  that  never  pass'd 

His  country's  sight,  to  waft  and  guide  them  in  : 

So,  when  we  wander  farthest  through  the  waves 

Of  glassy  glory,  and  the  gulfs  of  state, 

Topp'd  with  all  titles,  spreading  all  our  reaches, 

As  if  each  private  arm  would  sphere  the  earth, 

WE  MUST  TO  JESUS  FOB  HIS  GUIDE  RESORT, 

OR  WE  SHALL  SHIPWRECK  IN  OUR  SAFEST  PORT. 


I  did  not  think  to  have  added  more,  but  the 


His   CAPTORS.  287 

News  that  awaits  the  returning  Voyager  little  known. 

news  that  awaited  me  in  Boston  of  Death's  visit 
to  one  inexpressibly  dear,  and  that,  too,  on  the 
very  ocean  which  I  had  passed  over  in  peace, 
and  with  greatly  renovated  health, 

Through  the  dear  might  of  HIM  that  walk'd  the  waves, 

induces  me  to  venture  a  word  upon  the  natural 
and  Christian  graces  of  that  beloved  brother, 
whose  mortal  remains  now  lie  treasured  in  the 
deep,  till  the  sea  give  up  its  dead. 

His  was  a  lovely  soul,  formed  to  be  blessed  and  bless. 

He  struggled  long,  even  from  early  boyhood, 
with  sickness  and  pain,  but  all  the  while  pa- 
tiently, even  cheerfully,  such  was  the  buoyant 
energy  of  his  natural  temper,  and  so  early  was 
his  trial  sanctified  by  the  grace  of  Christ. 

O,  precious  grace  !  that  made  him  wise, 
And  proved  affliction,  rightly  used, 
Was  mercy  in  disguise  ! 

His  disposition  was  so  innately  cheerful  and 
lively,  so  irrepressibly  buoyant  and  genial,  that 
no  weight  of  either  maladies  or  misfortunes 
could  keep  him  under.  But  still  would  he  carry 
his  head  above  the  waves,  and  keep  his  eye 
cheerfully  aloft  in  the  saddest  times,  when  the 
spirits  of  others  were  fainting.  If,  now  and 
then,  his  cheerfulness  seemed  to  suffer  a  tern- 


288  THE    WHALE   AND 

Natural  Tribute  of  Affection  to  a  departed  Brother. 

porary  eclipse,  it  was  only  like  the  sun  drifting 
through  vapors  that  scattered  as  fast  as  they 
gathered,  and  it  was  but  a  moment  before  we 
would  see  again,  through  some  open  cloud-rift, 
the  clear  beams  of  his  sunny  face. 

If  a  sweet  social  temper,  gushing  love 

For  kindred  and  for  kind,  spirits  forever 

Sparkling  and  buoyant  as  a  spring's  light  bubbles  : 

Mirth,  candor,  frankness,  and  a  love  to  give 

Pleasure  to  friends,  and  good  to  every  one ; 

And,  more  than  all,  true  love  for  Christ  and  souls — 

If  these  be  traits  that  make  a  blessing  man, 

Beloved  and  form'd  to  bless,  through  God's  rich  grace, 

OUB  CHEBISH'D  BROTHER  WAS  THAT  HAPPY  MAN. 

No  more  the  tender  offices  of  love 
We  pay  him  here  on  earth,  but  all  his  virtues 
Still  will  we  cherish ;  and  that  radiant  face, 
From  its  calm  sphere  within  the  spirit  world, 
Like  a  bright  star  shall  still  look  down  and  cheer 
Our  life's  sojournings,  till  at  length  we  come 
Where  he  the  promises,  through  patient  faith, 
Inherits,  and  enjoys  the  rest  of  heaven ! 

It  is  all  well  with  him  now;  and  though  I 
had  fondly  hoped  to  have  seen  him  yet  once 
more  in  the  flesh,  and  to  have  knelt  again  in 
prayer  with  that  blessed  brother,  and  it  Would 
have  been  so  comforting,  if  God's  will,  to  have 
ministered  to  him  in  his  last  hours,  I  would  not 
have  it  otherwise  now.  Through  the  mercy  of 
Christ,  may  we  soon  bow  in  praise  around  the 
throne  of  God  !  Some  of  the  birth-day  lines  ad- 


His   CAPTORS.  289 

Thoughts  for  the  Birth-days  of  Eternity. 

dressed  to  him  years  ago  by  his  elder  brother, 
are,  with  a  slight  accommodation,  equally  ap- 
propriate now  that  he  has  passed  the  solemn 
threshold  and  BIRTH-DAY  of  a  BLESSED  ETERNITY  ! 

How  recollection  paints  anew 

The  times  when,  in  our  own  dear  home, 

We  talk  of  mercies  past,  and  view 
The  heavenly  life  to  come ! 

'Tis  just  in  heaven,  thy  happy  dawn — 
But  ah  !  how  full  the  mingled  scene 

On  memory's  pictured  tablets  drawn- 
Calm  now,  and  all  serene : 

Serene  because  a  blessed  faith 

Throws  o'er  each  melancholy  line 
That  marks  affliction's  rugged  path, 

The  gleam  of  love  divine. 

Through  all  it  sees  thy  Father's  form, 

His  gracious,  guiding  hand  beholds ; 
And  in  the  gloomiest  of  the  storm 

Some  bright  design  unfolds. 

Amid  the  sufferings  of  years, 

Thou  seest  thou  didst  not  walk  alone ; 
Where  all  was  agony  and  tears, 

There  most  His  mercy  shone. 

'Twas  thus  he  drew  thy  buoyant  heart 

Up  to  a  holier  world  above, 
And  bade  thee  choose  that  better  part, 

A  Savior's  wondrous  love. 

For  this  our  fervent  thanks  we  raise, 

That  HE,  whose  love  is  wisdom  too, 
Made  thee  partaker  of  his  grace, 

By  trials  here  below. 

T 


290  THE   WHALE. 


Christ  Loved  in  Life  a  Rock  and  Refuge  hi  Death. 

CHRIST  held  thee*  in  his  powerful  hand ; 

Now,  every  foe  and  fear  subdued, 
THY  FEET  DO  PRESS  THE  SHINING  LAND 

BEYOND  DEATH'S  NARROW  FLOOD  ! 

*  To  the  American  consul  of  Trinidad  de  Cuba,  where  he  had  been 
settled  as  a  physician,  he  spake  the  precious  words,  a  day  or  two  before 
his  death  on  shipboard,  "  I  wish  you  to  understand,  my  faith  is  strong  in 
Christ,  my  Redeemer." 


NOTES. 


NOTES. 


A,  p.  48. 

WHEN  the  islands  of  the  Pacific  Ocean  were  first  discover- 
ed by  Europeans,  some  of  the  natives  were  found  very  timid 
and  friendly,  while  others  were  fierce,  treacherous,  and  war- 
like. For  many  years  after  their  discovery,  these  islands  were 
visited  only  by  those  who  were  on  voyages  of  discovery,  or 
who  were  in  the  pursuit  of  gain.  The  natives  were  treated 
with  great  inhumanity ;  and  drunken  seamen,  rioting  through 
their  villages  and  trampling  upon  all  laws  of  right  doing,  soon 
introduced  all  the  vices  of  civilized  life  to  be  added  to  those 
of  the  savage  state.  The  natives  generally  became  exasper- 
ated, and  were  ever  watching  for  opportunities  to  cut  off  the 
ships  and  massacre  the  seamen.  A  Nantucket  whale  ship 
was  at  one  time  wrecked  upon  one  of  the  Feejee  Islands. 
The  crew  escaped,  in  their  boats,  to  the  shore,  and  before 
they  were  discovered  by  the  natives,  succeeded  in  construct- 
ing a  fort  for  their  defense.  The  natives,  however,  soon  found 
them ;  and  after  a  long  and  bloody  battle,  all  of  the  sailors 
were  slain  except  two  little  boys,  whose  lives  were  spared. 
One,  after  the  lapse  of  many  years,  escaped  on  board  a  whale 
ship  which  stopped  at  the  island.  The  other  has  never  been 
heard  from. 

Such  was  the  condition  of  these  islands  when  the  English 
missionaries,  taking  their  lives  in  their  hands,  went  among 
them  to  Christianize  the  inhabitants.  The  missionaries  were 
ridiculed,  opposed,  and  traduced  by  thousands  at  home,  and 
they  endured  every  species  of  privation  and  hardship  from 
the  habitations  of  cruelty,  in  the  midst  of  which  they  took  up 


294  NOTES. 

their  abode.  God  smiled,  however,  upon  their  exertions,  and 
soon  these  wild  men  and  women  turned  from  their  idols  and 
their  sins,  and  cultivated  the  arts  of  peace. 

A  few  years  after  the  missionaries  had  commenced  their 
labors,  an  American  whale  ship  came  in  sight  of  an  unknown 
island  in  the  Pacific  Ocean.  They  had  been  for  six  months 
cruising  in  search  of  their  gigantic  game  without  having  seen 
any  land.  Scurvy,  that  terrible  scourge  of  seamen,  had  seized 
one  after  another  of  the  crew,  till  there  were  not  enough  left 
in  health  to  navigate  the  vessel  in  safety.  Scurvy  is  a  disease 
caused  by  living  a  long  time  upon  salted  provisions,  without 
any  vegetables ;  and  the  sufferers  are  almost  immediately  re- 
stored to  health  when  they  can  breathe  the  fresh  air  of  the 
land  and  eat  freely  of  fruits  and  herbs.  Here  was  this  ship, 
several  thousand  miles  from  the  South  American  coast.  The 
crew  were  emaciated  and  dying. 

Before  them  rose,  in  all  the  beauty  of  tropical  luxuriance, 
one  of  those  islands  of  the  ocean,  which  appeared  to  the  mari- 
ner, weary  with  gazing  for  months  upon  the  wide  waste  of 
waters,  like  the  Garden  of  Eden.  But  they  dared  not  ap- 
proach those  shores.  A  foe,  more  treacherous  and  dreadful 
than  disease,  they  apprehended  there.  The  club  of  the  sav- 
age, and  the  demoniacal  revels  of  the  cannibals  dancing  and 
shouting  around  their  roasting  victims,  were  more  to  be 
dreaded  than  death  by  slow  and  lingering  approaches  in  the 
ship.  They  dared  not  draw  near  the  shore,  for  they  were 
too  feeble  to  prevent  the  natives,  should  they  come  out  in 
large  numbers  in  their  canoes,  from  climbing  up  the  sides 
and  taking  possession  of  the  ship.  But  with  the  glass  they 
could  distinctly  see  the  clear  streams  of  water  foaming  down 
their  channels  in  the  mountains.  Meadows  faded  away  in 
the  distance,  enchanting  the  eye  with  their  shady  groves  and 
their  rich  verdure.  The  cocoa-nut  tree  reared  its  graceful 
head  upon  the  beach,  laden  with  its  precious  and  its  life-giv- 
ing treasures;  and  forests  rich  with  tropical  fruits,  juicy  and 
luscious,  were  every  where  spread  around. 


NOTES.  295 

These  emaciated  and  dying  men  crawled  from  their  berths 
and  gazed  with  wistful  eyes  upon  this  tantalizing  scene. 
Slowly  they  were  borne  along  by  a  gentle  breeze,  and  forest- 
crowned  head-lands,  and  luxuriant  valleys  and  groves,  bend- 
ing beneath  the  burden  of  fruit,,  glided  by,  like  the  changes 
of  a  kaleidoscope,  and  still  no  canoe  pushed  out  from  the 
shore,  and  no  huts  of  the  natives  were  to  be  seen.  They  be- 
gan to  cherish  the  hope  that  the  island  might  be  uninhabit- 
ed, and  cautiously  approached  it.  But  ere  long  they  saw 
canoes  upon  the  beach,  and  smoke  here  and  there  ascending 
from  the  cocoa-nut  groves ;  and  still,  to  their  astonishment, 
no  natives  made  their  appearance,  and  no  sound  of  human 
voices  reached  them  from  the  shore. 

As  they  rounded  a  promontory,  which  opened  before  them 
a  quiet  and  lovely  bay,  a  thickly  clustered  village  of  the  na- 
tives burst  upon  their  view,  and  in  the  center  of  it  was  rear- 
ed a  Christian  church.  A  simultaneous  shout  of  joy  rang 
through  the  ship  as  the  cry  passed  from  stem  to  stern,  The 
missionaries  are  here !  It  was  the  Sabbath,  and  the  natives 
had  learned  the  Divine  command,  "  Remember  the  Sabbath 
day,  and  keep  it  holy."  And  the  temptation  of  a  ship  enter- 
ing the  bay  did  not  lure  a  single  canoe  to  leave  the  shore. 
The  crew  were  almost  crazed  with  joy  at  this  sudden  change 
in  their  prospects.  They  speedily  cast  anchor,  furled  their 
sails,  and,  entering  the  ship's  boats,  went  on  shore.  As  soon 
as  the  natives  were  informed  of  their  sick  and  suffering  con- 
dition, they  received  them  with  the  utmost  hospitality,  and 
supplied  them  with  all  the  fresh  fruit  and  vegetables  they 
could  need. 

The  next  day  the  natives  aided  the  emaciated  crew  in  tak- 
ing a  sail  from  the  ship,  and  spreading  a  large  tent  upon  the 
green  grass  on  the  banks  of  a  mountain  stream.  And  here 
the  crew  reposed  in  inexpressible  luxury.  They  bathed  their 
limbs  in  the  pure  water,  and  quaffed  it,  in  its  coolness  and  its 
freshness,  like  Elysian  nectar.  They  rolled  with  childish  glee 
upon  the  green  grass.  Cocoa-nuts  and  bananas,  and  lemons 


296  NOTES. 

and  oranges,  and  other  luscious  fruits  of  the  tropics,  were 
brought  to  them  in  great  abundance  by  the  friendly  natives. 
In  a  few  days,  the  disease  which  had  brought  so  many  of 
them  to  the  verge  of  the  grave  began  to  disappear.  The  mis- 
sionaries, from  their  little  stock  of  medicines,  administered  to 
their  wants,  and  treated  them  with  fraternal  kindness. 

In  the  course  of  two  or  three  weeks,  all  were  restored  to 
health  and  vigor.  They  filled  their  casks  with  fresh  water ; 
laid  in  stores  of  vegetables;  supplied  themselves  with  pigs 
and  poultry,  and  then,  with  invigorated  bodies  and  rejoicing 
spirits,  they  raised  their  anchors  and  unfurled  their  sails,  and 
departed  on  their  adventurous  way. 

Thus  is  fulfilled  the  declaration  of  Scripture,  that  "  godli- 
ness is  profitable  unto  all  things,  having  promise  of  the  life 
that  now  is  and  of  that  which  is  to  come."  The  labors  of 
these  missionaries  were  not  only  instrumental  in  promoting 
the  moral  elevation,  and,  we  hope,  the  final  salvation  of  these 
uncivilized  men,  but  they  also  saved  the  lives  of  these  seamen, 
and  secured  the  success  of  the  voyage  upon  which  they  had 
embarked. 

What  a  different  world  would  this  be,  could  the  spirit  of 
Christian  brotherhood  pervade  the  hearts  of  all  the  inhabit- 
ants !  Could  woe,  oppression,  and  injustice  cease,  and  every 
man  look  upon  his  fellow-man  as  a  friend,  the  larger  portion 
of  the  sorrows  of  humanity  would  disappear  forever.  And 
none  are  doing  more  to  hasten  the  advent  of  this  happy  day 
than  those  who  are  aiding  by  their  personal  influence  and  their 
purse  to  extend  throughout  the  world  the  religion  of  Jesus 
Christ. 

Ye  disciples  of  Voltaire  and  of  Paine,  can  you  show  us  such 
a  triumph  as  this  ?  You  profess  to  be  humane  men,  to  love 
your  brethren,  to  desire  to  promote  their  happiness  here  and 
hereafter.  Can  you  show  us  an  instance  in  which  the  adop- 
tion of  the  principles  of  infidelity  has  been  promotive  of  the 
moral  or  the  physical  welfare  of  an  individual,  or  of  a  village, 
or  of  a  nation  ?  Have  you  ever  known  a  young  man  to  be- 


NOTES.  297 

come  more  dissolute  by  becoming  a  Christian?  Have  you 
ever  known  a  village  to  become  less  thrifty  and  prosperous 
in  consequence  of  the  observance  by  its  inhabitants  of  the 
precepts  of  the  Bible  ?  Is  there,  on  the  surface  of  this  globe, 
a  more  intelligent,  virtuous,  prosperous,  and  happy  communi- 
ty than  is  to  be  found  in  the  dwellings  of  New  England, 
and  is  there  any  other  portion  of  earth's  inhabitants  over 
whom  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  has  greater  supremacy  ? 
Give,  then,  your  influence  to  aid  this  cause,  and  your  fellow- 
men  shall  bless  you,  and  conscience  shall  reward  you,  and 
your  heavenly  Father  shall  welcome  you  as  his  co-workers 
and  his  sons. — N.  Y.  Evangelist. 


B,  p.  152. 

A  boat-steerer  in  an  American  whaler,  a  man  of  more  than 
ordinary  thoughtfulness  and  intelligence,  addressed  an  inter- 
esting communication  to  the  Honolulu  Seaman's  Friend,  while 
the  author  of  these  sketches  was  at  the  Sandwich  Islands.  It 
is  feared  that  he  has  since  been  lost,  it  being  a  very  long  time 
since  his  ship  was  heard  from.  The  communication  referred 
to,  being  a  slice  of  a  sailor's  autobiography,  will  be  a  good 
comment  on  the  text  that  there's  many  a  heart  under  the  rough 
pea  jacket. 

When  I  look  back  (he  says)  upon  my  past  life,  with  all  its 
various  scenes  and  occurrences,  both  by  sea  and  land,  it  is  on 
my  lips  to  say,  what  hair-breadth  escapes  from  death,  what 
deliverance  from  threatening  dangers  have  I  experienced, 
even  from  my  childhood.  Surely  goodness  and  mercy  have 
followed  me  all  the  days  of  my  life. 

When  a  man  is  placed  in  a  situation  where  no  danger  is  ap- 
parent, where  all  is  cheerful  and  happy,  how  apt  he  is  to 
think  and  talk  lightly  of  death ;  but  let  him  be  placed  in  the 
midst  of  the  ocean,  in  a  solitary  bark,  at  the  mercy  of  the 
winds  and  waves ;  let  the  tempest  arise,  and  the  wild  waters 


298  NOTES. 

be  tossed  by  the  howling  winds,  and  we  will  suppose  that 
the  ship  is  trimmed  for  the  storm,  her  sails  furled,  her  top-gal- 
lant-masts are  sent  down,  and  when  he  casts  his  eye  aloft,  the 
naked  spars  and  rigging  strike  a  sort  of  chill — an  unusual  sen- 
sation to  his  heart.  He  looks  to  windward  and  to  leeward, 
ahead  and  astern ;  there  is  nothing  to  be  seen  save  the  foam- 
clad  billows  in  wild  commotion.  ' 

Night  comes,  and  no  moon — not  even  a  solitary  star  visible 
to  cheer  his  sight ;  the  land  is  hundreds  of  miles  distant ;  he 
casts  his  eye  upward  to  the  heavens,  the  sky  looks  black ;  he 
leans  over  the  bulwarks  and  peers  away  into  the  awful  gloom 
around,  nothing  is  to  be  seen,  nothing  is  to  be  heard  save  the 
howling  blast,  the  surging  waters,  and  the  creaking  of  the 
vessel.  Wave  succeeds  wave,  dashing  with  violence  against 
the  ship's  side,  the  darkness  is  almost  palpable,  he  can  not 
distinguish  a  shipmate  at  the  distance  of  a  few  feet,  the  ship 
labors  heavily,  and  seems  to  struggle  with  the  angry  element 
as  if  conscious  of  the  dread  hour. 

Then  a  man  will  think,  ay,  and  his  conscience  will  some- 
times speak ;  strange  thoughts,  like  unbidden  guests,  will  at 
such  times  intrude  themselves  into  his  mind,  whether  wel- 
come or  not.  He  goes  to  his  hammock  and  tries  to  sleep,  but 
from  the  pitching  and  rolling  of  the  ship  it  is  almost  impossi- 
ble to  rest;  the  night  passes  slowly  and  uneasily  away  in 
broken  dreams  and  fearful  fancies,  and  at  length,  when  day- 
light comes,  he  discovers  that  the  storm  has  increased  in  vio- 
lence. Few  words  pass  among  his  shipmates ;  perhaps  a 
loud  oath  from  some  would-be  reckless  companion  salutes  his 
ear,  which,  if  uttered  at  other  times,  would  pass  unheeded,  but 
now,  for  some  reason  that  he  is  at  a  loss  to  explain,  sounds 
strangely  out  of  place.  The  cheeks  of  some  of  the  hardiest 
turn  pale,  and  the  restless  glances  of  others  betray  the  un- 
easy feelings  within. 

He  will  at  such  times  reflect  on  the  past,  the  present,  and 
the  future ;  what  would  have  been  the  consequence  if,  on  the 
previous  night,  some  other  vessel,  imperceptible  in  the  dark- 


NOTES.  299 

ness,  had  come  in  collision  with  his;  he  shudders  at  the 
thought,  and  perhaps,  at  that  moment,  the  idea  will  suggest 
itself  that  there  is  an  overruling  Providence  who  watches 
over  and  protects  the  poor  mariner. 

Well  do  I  recollect  my  own  feelings  on  several  occasions  of 
this  nature,  one  of  which  happened  on  the  coast  of  California. 
We  were  sailing  in  company  with  another  whale  ship,  when 
a  gale  of  wind  came  on  which  was  favorable  for  the  course 
we  were  steering  toward  Cape  St.  Lucas :  both  ships  were 
kept  before  the  wind  during  the  day,  but  after  sunset  our 
captain  thought  it  advisable  to  heave  to,  after  which,  from 
the  position  of  our  ship,  it  appeared  probable  that  the  other 
vessel,  which  was  still  kept  on  her  course,  would  pass  quite 
close  to  us,  and  a  good  look-out  was  therefore  ordered  to  be 
kept  to  windward.  In  a  short  time  it  was  very  dark,  the  sea 
running  "  mountains  high,"  and  the  gale  blowing  very  hard, 
so  that  it  was  impossible  to  see  any  distance  to  windward. 

When  the  other  ship  was  last  visible,  she  appeared  to  be 
heading  right  for  us;  and  well  do  I  remember  with  what 
anxiety  I  waited  until  I  thought  sufficient  time  had  elapsed 
for  her  to  pass.  I  know  not  why,  but  the  thought  seemed  at 
that  time  to  press  very  heavily  on  me,  what  the  consequence 
would  be  should  the  other  ship  run  into  ours ;  very  probably 
we  should  have  all  gone  to  the  bottom  ;  and  my  feelings  were 
the  more  acute  by  the  circumstance  that  the  ship  in  question 
belonged  to  the  same  owners  as  ours,  and  had  on  board  sev- 
eral young  men  who  had  often  been  my  companions  in  pleas- 
ant parties. 

At  another  time,  while  employed  in  trying  out,  on  the  coast 
of  Kamtschatka,  one  very  dark  night  the  watch  was  busily 
employed  on  deck;  we  were  boiling  our  last  whale,  and  car- 
rying' more  sail  than  is  usual  while  boiling,  for  the  purpose  of 
making  a  port,  when  another  vessel  approached  to  leeward 
unseen  by  us ;  at  this  time,  as  it  was  blowing  fresh,  and  the 
ship  had  a  considerable  heel,  the  officer  of  the  deck  ordered 
the  helm  to  be  put  up  to  keep  the  ship  before  the  wind,  and 


300  NOTES. 

consequently  on  an  even  keel,  while  the  watch  rolled  a  very 
large  cask  of  oil  away  from,  the  cooler.  While  running  off 
for  this  purpose,  we  were  suddenly  hailed  by  a  strange  voice 
from  the  surrounding  gloom,  apparently  close  aboard  of  us; 
at  first  we  thought  the  sound  came  from  under  the  ship's 
bows,  but  fortunately  it  was  not  exactly  there,  and  it  turned 
out  afterward,  that  while  running  off  in  the  manner  described, 
we  had  unconsciously  (but  for  being  hailed)  passed  quite 
close  to  another  ship. 

At  such  times  as  these,  most  men  will  think,  and  that  se- 
riously ;  but,  alas !  it  soon  passes  away ;  with  the  recollection 
of  such  dangerous  occurrences  vanishes,  I  may  say,  the  recol- 
lection of  the  superintending  care  of  an  Almighty  God.  Who 
can  tell  how  many  unseen  dangers  are  passed  through  by  a 
ship  during  a  three  years'  voyage  ? 

If  there  be  any  class  of  men  who  oiight,  more  than  others, 
to  feel  grateful  to  God,  I  think  that  class  is  sailors,  of  whom 
many  may  well  exclaim,  "  Surely  goodness  and  mercy  have 
followed  me  all  the  days  of  my  life." 


C,  p.  227. 

AN  instance  has  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  writer  of  a 
ship  in  the  North  Pacific,  from  which  there  was  lost  a  boat 
and  crew  of  six  men,  under  the  following  circumstances. 
They  had  been  lowered  to  take  a  whale,  and  had  succeeded 
in  plunging  the  harpoon  into  the  monster's  side,  but  he  had 
rushed  with  them,  at  rail-road  speed,  out  of  the  sight  of  the 
ship,  which  was  making  after  them  at  what  rate  they  could. 
Suddenly  a  fog  be'gan  to  rise,  and  enveloped  both  the  ship  and 
her  lone  boat,  and  to  spread  over  the  whole  expanse  of  the 
ocean,  involving  a  danger  of  very  frequent  occurrence  to 
whalemen  in  high  latitudes. 

It  was  impossible  to  see  any  object  at  the  distance  of  a 
ship's  length ;  and  there  was  an  open  whale  boat,  with  six 


NOTES.  301 

men  in  it,  perhaps  fifteen  miles  from  the  ship,  with  food  and 
water  for  but  a  few  hour's  consumption,  and  utterly  bewilder- 
ed in  the  dense  fog.  The  darkness  of  night  soon  came  on ; 
the  wind  began  to  rise,  and  the  billows  to  swell.  Every  ef- 
fort was  made,  by  firing  guns  and  showing  lights,  to  attract 
the  lost  boat.  The  long  hours  of  the  night  rolled  away,  a 
stormy  morning  dawned,  and  still  no  boat  appeared. 

For  several  days  they  sailed  in  circles  around  the  spot,  but 
all  in  vain.  The  boat  was  either  dashed  by  the  whale,  or 
swamped  by  the  billows  of  the  stormy  night,  or,  as  it  floated 
day  after  day  upon  the  desert  waste  of  the  Pacific,  one  after 
another  of  the  crew,  emaciated  with  thirst  and  famine,  drop- 
ped down  and  died. 

Another,  a  sperm  whaler,  the  bark  Harriet,  of  Freetown, 
Captain  Durfee,  when  cruising  on  the  line,  lowered  her  boats 
one  day  for  sperm  whales.  The  first  and  third  mates  had 
each  secured  a  whale  and  made  them  fast  alongside,  when 
they  returned  to  assist  the  second  mate,  who  was  fast  to  an- 
other. They  came  up  with  him  about  nine  o'clock  at  night, 
and  succeeded  in  killing  the  whale.  They  could  then  see  the 
ship ;  but  it  soon  began  to  blow,  and  they  were  obliged  to  lay 
by  the  whale  all  night.  In  the  morning  the  ship  was  not  in 
sight,  it  still  blowing  a  gale  and  raining  hard.  They  lay  by 
the  whale  three  days,  when  they  ventured  to  stand  off  to  the 
westward,  in  hopes  of  falling  in  with  some  ship.  On  the 
seventh  day  they  caught  a  shark,  which  they  ate  with  a  good 
relish.  They  were  then  standing  for  the  King's  Mill  Group  of 
islands ;  but  a  new  gale  coming  on,  they  were  obliged  to  reef 
down  and  stand  to  the  eastward,  and  finally  to  heave  to, 
where  they  lay  for  thirty-six  hours,  in  a  gale  unusual  for  those 
latitudes.  On  the  morning  of  the  tenth  day  they  again  stood 
to  the  west.  On  the  eleventh  they  discovered  a  sail,  and 
stood  for  her,  which  proved  to  be  the  bark  Hanseat,  of  Ham- 
burg. They  were  taken  on  board  and  treated  with  great 
kindness,  having  had  nothing  to  eat  during  the  eleven  days 
excepting  the  shark  they  had  caught  and  one  or  two  flying- 


302  NOTES. 

fish,  and  no  water  except  what  they  had  caught  in  the  line- 
tubs.  Some  of  them  had  lain  down  to  die  two  days  before 
they  saw  the  ship,  and  all  of  them  were  so  weak  that  they 
could  scarcely  support  their  weight.  Captain  Durfee,  after 
cruising  for  several  days  in  the  vicinity,  was  making  the  best 
of  his  way  to  Oahu  with  the  remnant  of  his  crew,  having 
given  up  all  hopes  of  ever  seeing  any  of  his  officers  or  crew 
again,  when  the  bark  Hanseat  spoke  him,  January  20th.  He 
was  not  more  surprised  than  delighted  to  find  his  men  all 
safe,  and  receiving  all  attention  possible,  as  the  third  mate 
was  a  brother. 


D,  p.  231. 

OF  the  twenty  thousand  men  who  go  in  jeopardy  of  their 
lives  under  every  accessible  line  of  latitude  and  longitude, 
upon  the  great  highway  of  nations ;  who,  on  an  average,  are 
exiles  from  home  and  country,  from  the  social  delights  and 
most  of  the  comforts  of  life  for  three  or  four  years  at  a  time, 
on  purpose  to  bring  back  the  means  of  enriching  the  owners 
of  the  whale  ships,  and  of  adding  to  the  comforts  and  embel- 
lishments of  the  millions  who  are  spared  these  privations, 
what  can  be  said  ?  what  shall  be  done  for  thein  ? 

Very  encouraging  it  is  that,  of  late,  some  attention  is  given 
to  this  class  of  men.  The  fact  that  they  are  human  beings 
begins  to  be  recognized ;  nor  are  they  altogether  forgotten, 
as  some  notices  of  their  condition  and  wants  clearly  prove. 
It  could  not  be  expected  that  our  stately  and  dignified  quar- 
terlies would  notice,  except  in  the  most  general  and  gingerly 
manner,  the  worst  features  of  the  whaleman's  case.  You, 
however,  who  are  fully  committed  to  the  work  of  philan- 
thropic and  Christian  reforms,  who  do  not  fear  to  speak  out 
plainly  and  boldly,  who  care  more  for  the  groans  and  degra- 
dation of  humanity  than  for  the  frowns  of  its  oppressors,  who 
love  to  plead  for  the  dumb,  and  whose  honest  boast  it  is  that 


NOTES.  303 

you  faithfully  hold  up  the  mirror  to  reflect  the  evils  which  re- 
quire to  be  repented  of  and  reformed,  as  well  as  the  good  in 
which  we  may  exult,  surely  of  you  and  in  your  columns  may 
be  expected  the  full  unmasking  of  whatever  abuses  and  per- 
versions have  been  allowed  to  spring  up,  and  for  a  long  time 
have  been  tolerated  in  silence. 

From  one  whose  position  gives  him  ample  facilities  for  un- 
mistaking  knowledge  of  the  facts  in  this  case,  who  has  not, 
by  a  long  course  of  familiar  observation  of  flagrant  abuses,  be- 
come indurated  to  a  sense  of  their  turpitude  ;  who,  on  the  one 
hand,  has  no  interests  prompting  to  concealment,  or  glossing 
over  frightful  evils,  nor,  on  the  other,  any  feelings  of  goading 
retaliation  for  personal  injuries,  real  or  supposed,  to  cause  an 
exaggerated  picture,  surely,  from  such  a  one,  you  ought  to 
be  able  to  rely  on  the  simple  truth.  The  former  position,  the 
subsequent  tendencies,  and  the  present  state  of  the  whale- 
men, in  their  physical  and  intellectual,  their  moral  and  relig- 
ious condition,  shall  pass  in  brief  review ;  and  certain  it  is, 
that  in  more  capable  hands,  it  could  not  fail,  in  a  surpassing 
degree,  to  awaken  the  deepest  concern  of  the  wise  and  good. 

Only  two  or  three  generations  since — at  the  very  time  when 
Burke  poured  forth,  in  the  British  Parliament,  his  splendid 
eulogium  on  the  exploits  of  this  class  of  men — they  were,  for 
the  most  part,  the  sturdy,  intelligent,  and  comparatively  vir- 
tuous yeomanry  of  New  England.  Not  only  the  officers,  but 
the  crews  of  whale  ships  were  of  this  character.  But  such  is 
not  the  case  now.  Whether  the  deterioration  of  character  in 
the  crews  especially  has  resulted  from  the  hardships  of  the 
service,  inducing  all  but  the  mentally  imbecile  to  prefer 
some  other  branch  of  marine  adventure,  or  whether  the  fall- 
ing off  has  been  occasioned  by  the  grinding  conditions  as  to 
remuneration  which  the  ship-owner  imposes,  who  is  chiefly 
anxious  to  enrich  himself,  or  perhaps  some  favorite  officer  in 
his  employ,  while  the  poor  seamen  are  left  to  endure  priva- 
tions, and  expose  themselves  to  hazards  of  life  and  limbs  in 
bootless  disinterestedness ;  or  whether  the  rapid  extension  of 


304  NOTES. 

this  enterprise  has  called  for  men  faster  than  the  good  and 
worthy  could  be  furnished ;  or,  perhaps,  from  the  joint  influ- 
ence of  all  these  causes  combined,  it  must  be  conceded  that 
a  lamentable  deterioration  of  character  in  the  crews  of  whale- 
ships  has  been  witnessed. 

They  are  now  made  up  to  a  great  degree,  and,  of  course,  with 
some  honorable  exceptions,  of  the  very  refuse  of  humanity, 
gathered  from  every  quarter,  escaped  from  poor-houses  and 
prisons,  or  gleaned  from  the  receptacle  of  vagrancy  and  lazar- 
house  corruption,  with  a  large  admixture  of  foreigners  of  all 
languages,  complexions,  and  character. 

Such  constitute  the  exprienced  portions  of  the  crew.  To 
them  you  may  add  one  third  or  one  quarter  part  more  of  land 
lubbers,  or  raw  hands,  made  up  of  very  heterogeneous  mate- 
rials. Here  will  be  found  the  young,  roving  adventurer,  who 
pants  for  opportunity  to  see  the  world  ;  he  has  heard  marvel- 
ous stories  of  the  facilities  of  foreign  observation  furnished  in 
this  service,  while,  at  the  same  time,  visions  of  easily-acquired 
wealth,  golden  harvests  to  be  here  reaped,  have  filled  his  mind, 
and  he  hurried  from  the  interior  to  ship  himself  on  board  a 
whaleman.  The  reckless  and  impatient,  who  spurn  all  sal- 
utary control,  are  also  here,  thinking  this  is  just  the  place  to 
indulge  unbounded  license. 

Here,  also,  you  will  find  the  spoiled  sons  of  over-indulgent 
parents,  who,  having  made  themselves  intolerable  by  their 
vicious  propensities,  and  constantly  in  danger  of  bringing  dis- 
grace on  themselves  and  their  connections  also,  by  their  in- 
temperance, their  fits  of  passion,  or  unbridled  licentiousness, 
are  sent  on  a  whaling  voyage  as  a  school  of  reform !  To 
each  of  these  a  small  advance  of  cash  is  made,  on  signing  the 
shipping  papers,  for  the  ostensible  purpose  of  paying  their 
traveling  expenses  to  the  port  of  embarkation,  or  their  board 
a  few  weeks  or  days  before  they  are  ready  to  sail,  or  for  their 
partial  outfit;  the  real  object  is  to  tie  the  poor  renegade  as 
firmly  as  possible  to  his  new  engagement. 

With  two  thirds  of  the  required  number  of  men  of  the 


NOTE  s.  305 

above  description,  the  ship  sails,  relying  on  making  up  her 
complement  in  Portuguese  sailors  at  the  Western  Islands,  or 
in  Kanakas  from  the  Sandwich  or  other  islands  of  the  Pa- 
cific Ocean.  Both  these  classes  are  usually  as  filthy  and  dis- 
gusting specimens  of  humanity  as  can  well  be  conceived,  hav- 
ing this  difference,  however,  that  the  former  are  perfectly  in- 
corrigible, while  the  latter  do  sometimes  improve. 

This  motley  crew  are  at  length  mustered  on  board,  drunk 
or  sober,  though  far  less  intemperance  now  prevails  than  in 
former  years,  thanks  to  the  praiseworthy  endeavor  of  reform- 
era  in  one  much-needed  department  of  their  endeavors.  Sul- 
len and  sad,  or  jovial  and  light-hearted  as  they  may  seem,  they 
are  now  in  their  quarters  for  several  yeai-s.  What  a  home ! 
Look  around  for  its  facilities  for  comfort  and  improvement. 

In  that  repulsive  hole  called  the  forecastle,  of  scarce  twelve 
feet  square  capacity,  not  high  enough  to  allow  a  tall  man  to 
stand  upright,  with  little  or  no  light  or  ventilation  but  what 
comes  down  the  narrow  hatchway  (and  even  this  must  be 
closed  iii  rough  weather),  here  some  twenty  or  five-and-twen- 
ty  men  are  to  eat,  and  sleep,  and  live,  if  such  a  state  can  be 
called  living ;  here,  in  sickness  and  in  health,  by  day  and  by 
night,  without  fire  in  the  rigors  of  the  polar  regions,  or  cool- 
ing appliances  under  the  equator,  these  men,  with  their  chests 
and  hammocks,  or  bunks,  are  to  find  stowage.  After  again 
and  again  examining  this  feature  of  their  arrangements,  and 
comparing  it  with  the  cells  prepared  for  and  enjoyed  by  the 
felons  in  all  our  principal  prisons  in  more  than  half  the  states 
of  our  Union  which  I  have  visited,  the  latter  would  be  pro- 
nounced princely,  enviable  even  in  all  the  requisites  of  room- 
iness, light,  ventilation,  and  facility  for  seclusion. 

Here,  with  no  possibility  of  classification  and  separate  quar- 
ters, with  few  or  no  books,  or  opportunity  to  use  them  if  they 
were  possessed,  with  the  constant  din  of  roystering  disorder, 
superabundant  profanity,  and  teeming  lasciviousuess  of  con- 
versation and  songs,  with  no  Sabbath,  no  prayer,  no  words 
and  efforts  by  superiors  to  win  them  to  something  better  and 

u 


306  NOTE  s. 

worthier,  three  fourths  of  their  forty  months'  absence  are  pass- 
ed. When  they  are  on  shore,  or  lying  in  port  to  refit,  cor- 
ruptions, by  libidinous  intercourse  with  impure  women,  in- 
temperance, and  other  abominations,  vary,  while  they  by  no 
means  improve,  their  condition.—  Christian  Reflector. 


E,  p.  253. 

THE  Sabbath-keeping  experience  of  Rev.  William  Scoresby, 
who,  as  well  as  the  father,  was  for  many  years  employed  in 
the  Greenland  whale  fishery,  is  of  great  practical  value.  In 
a  volume  entitled  "  Memorials  of  the  Sea,"  he  gives  the  fol- 
lowing results  of  a  strict  and  conscientious  observance  of  the 
Sabbath  at  sea : 

It  was  in  the  last  four  voyages,  wherein  my  personal  in- 
terest in  the  fishing  was  the  greatest,  that  the  providential 
testimonies  to  Sabbath  observance  were  the  most  striking. 
During  this  period,  the  pecuniary  interest  to  myself  alone, 
in  the  capture  of  a  large  whale,  was  not  uufrequently  near 
£300,  while  a  single  day's  successful,  fishing  might  afford  a 
personal  advantage,  as  in  one  instance  or  more  it  did,  of  up- 
ward of  £800.  Consequently  every  motive  of  self-interest 
was  in  favor  of  unceasing  exertions,  during  the  whole  seven 
days  of  the  week,  for  promoting  the  success  of  our  undertak- 
ing. The  practice,  morever,  almost  universally  is,  to  pursue 
the  fishery  equally  on  the  Lord's  day,  as  at  any  other  time, 
whenever  whales  were  astir. 

Works  connected  with  the  fishery,  indeed,  but  considered 
of  less  importance,  were,  for  the  most  part,  suspended  in 
honor  of  the  Sabbath ;  but  the  capture  of  whales,  if  oppor- 
tunity offered,  was  considered  as  such  a  kind  of  necessity  as 
to  justify  that  departure  from  the  ordinary  rest  of  the  day; 
for  it  was  argued,  and  that  with  reason,  that  the  whales  which 
were  seen  on  the  Sabbath  might  not  remain  till  another 
day ;  and,  therefore,  it  was  inferred,  though  by  no  means 
with  the  same  strictness  of  truth,  that  it  was  a  necessary  duty 


NOTES.  307 

to  pursue  the  objects  of  the  fishery  whenever  they  were  with- 
in reach. 

Through  the  goodness  of  God,  however,  I  felt  the  line  of 
duty  to  be  otherwise.  The  strict  command  concerning  the 
Sabbath,  rendered,  in  my  apprehension,  the  duty  imperative 
— to  refrain  from  laboring  in  a  worldly  calling  for  worldly 
advantage  on  that  holy  day ;  and  this,  for  several  of  the  most 
recent  voyages  in  which  I  was  engaged,  became  our  unde- 
viatiug  line  of  conduct. 

On  the  13th  of  July,  blowing  hard,  with  rain  or  sleet,  we 
moored  to  a  large  and  heavy  floe  (a  sheet  of  ice  about  three 
or  four  miles  in  diameter),  in  order  the  more  commodiously 
to  enjoy  the  Sabbath  day's  repose.  A  ship  from  Peterhead, 
which  had  for  some  days  been  accompanying  us,  followed  our 
example,  and  a  considerable  number  of  her  officers  and  crew 
joined  us  in  our  usual  Sabbath  devotions.  An  evening  serv- 
ice, designed  chiefly  for  the  instruction  and  benefit  of  the  ap- 
prentices, had  been  concluded,  the  sacred  day  of  the  Lord 
was  drawing  to  a  close,  and  our  visitors  were  preparing  to 
return  to  their  ship,  when  a  large  whale  was  descried  by  one 
of  our  own  seamen  in  a  situation  very  inviting  for  attempting 
its  capture. 

No  doubt  it  was  contemplated  by  many  with  an  ardent 
and  longing  gaze ;  but  the  orders  for  sanctifying  the  Sabbath 
being  quite  peremptory,  no  attempt,  on  the  part  of  any  of  our 
people,  was  made  to  pursue  the  tempting  object.  Our  fel- 
low-worshipers, however,  being  less  scrupulous,  instantly 
manned  the  boat  which  had  brought  them  on  board  of  the 
Baffin,  and  set  forth,  along  with  some  others  from  their  own 
ship,  in  eager  pursuit.  Nor  were  their  ardent  hopes  disap- 
pointed ;  for  in  a  short  time,  the  usual  quietness  of  the  day, 
with  us,  was  broken  in  upon  by  the  shout  of  success  from  the 
pursuing  boats,  followed  by  vehement  respondings  from  the 
contiguous  ship.  The  attack,  being  followed  up  with  the 
wonted  vigor,  proved  successful,  and  the  prize  was  fully  se- 
cured by  the  middle  of  the  night. 


308  NOTES. 

That  such  a  result  should  uot  be  exceedingly  trying  to  the 
feelings  of  our  people,  who  saw  that  their  competitors  had 
won  the  prize  which  we  had  first  declined,  was  more  than 
could  be  expected.  Nevertheless,  both  the  trial  of  their  obe- 
dience and  the  exercise  of  their  patience  were  so  sustained 
as  to  be  at  once  satisfactory  to  me  and  creditable  to  them- 
selves. Their  minds,  in  general,  seemed  disposed  to  admit 
the  principle  on  which  we  acted;  for,  in  addition  to  the  re- 
ligious sanctions,  their  repeated  experiences  had  testified  that 
the  principle  was  acknowledged  by  heaven. 

It  was  my  intention  to  have  "  cast  off',"  the  morning  of  Mon- 
day, to  explore  the  navigable  spaces  of  the  ice  to  the  west- 
ward with  a  view  to  the  furtherance  of  our  voyage ;  but  the 
day  being  still  stormy,  with  constant  thick  weather  from  snow, 
sleet,  or  rain,  we  found  it  expedient  to  remain  in  somewhat 
anxious  idleness,  while  our  successful  comrades  were  joyous- 
ly and  usefully  occupied  in  flensing  the  valuable  fish  obtain- 
ed almost  under  our  stern.  This  was  doubtless  an  additional 
trial  of  the  good  feelings  of  our  crew ;  but  whatever  might 
be  the  regrets  of  any  in  yielding  up,  for  conscience'  sake,  our 
chance  of  so  fine  a  prize,  I  heard  of  no  other  dissatisfaction 
than  the  mere  expression  of  a  natural  anxiety  to  be  under 
weigh,  that  we  might  find  a  fish  for  ourselves. 

The  state  of  the  weather,  however,  induced  us  to  continue 
at  our  moorings  till  forced  off  by  the  movements  of  the  con- 
tiguous ices,  which  threatened  the  safety  of  the  ship.  Soon 
afterward  we  set  forward  on  our  object;  and  having  made  a 
stretch  to  the  westward,  all  hands  were  speedily  called  into 
exhilarating  action  by  the  discovery  of  several  whales.  The 
eagerness  of  the  men,  indeed,  was,  in  the  first  instance,  against 
us;  more  than  one  of  the  objects  of  their  anxiety  being  un- 
necessarily scared,  for  want  of  that  wise  and  considerate 
prudence  which,  under  the  circumstances,  was  peculiarly 
needed  to  temper  and  direct  their  excited  zeal.  At  length, 
however,  after  a  variety  of  mortifying  failures,  a  harpoon  was 
ebly  struck ;  and  though  the  boat  received  a  desperate  heave, 


NOTES.  309 

and  some  of  its  oars  were  projected  high  into  the  air,  happily 
no  accident  ensued. 

The  excess  of  ardor  among  the  men  was  now  in  full  de- 
mand, being  appropriately  drawn  off  by  the  vigor  with  which 
the  wounded  monster  struggled  for  its  liberty  and  life.  Out- 
stripping the  utmost  speed  of  its  pursuers,  in  the  beginning 
of  the  chase,  it  obtained  shelter  amid  the  compact  accumula- 
tion of  numerous  masses  of  ice  where  it  was  most  difficult  to 
reach,  and  from  whence  it  seemed  next  to  impracticable  to 
be  dislodged.  After  encountering,  ho\vever,  a  variety  of  lit- 
tle adventures,  as  well  as  some  very  threatening  obstacles, 
we  succeeded  in  subduing  the  powerful  animal;  and  no 
sooner  was  it  clear  of  the  lines,  and  in  a  condition  to  be  re- 
moved, than  the  compact  aggregation  of  ices  by  which  it  was 
enveloped  began  to  relax,  so  that  with  little  further  embar- 
rassment a  channel  was  cleared  out,  and  the  prize  effectual- 
ly secured.  Thus,  before  the  very  first  day  available  for  the 
fishery  after  the  Sabbath  had  come  to  a  close,  all  our  anxie- 
ties were  relieved,  our  forbearance  compensated,  and  our  ef- 
forts crowned  with  the  desired  success. 

After  a  careful  examination  of  the  journals  of  my  four  last 
voyages  in  the  whale  fishery,  being  the  same  to  which  the 
foregoing  records  chiefly  refer,  I  can  only  discover  three  in- 
stances wherein,  after  resisting  the  pursuit  of  whales  seen  on 
the  Sabbath,  we  were  not  successful  in  the  fishery  of  the  en- 
suing week. 

As  to  those  who  may  yet  question  the  result  of  our  argu- 
ment— that  the  statements  here  presented  afford  decisive  evi- 
dence of  a  providential  blessing  on  the  endeavor  to  keep  the 
Lord's  day  holy — we  would  claim,  at  least,  this  fair  and  can- 
did admission,  that  our  refraining  from  Sabbath  violation, 
when  urged  to  it  by  the  prospect  of  worldly  gain,  was  not 
the  occasion  of  either  loss  or  disadvantage,  in  the  ultimate  re- 
sult of  our  labors.  Could,  however,  the  conviction  of  those 
who  accompanied  me  in  the  voyages  referred  to,  consisting, 
probably,  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  different  men,  be  convey- 


310  NOTES. 

ed  to  their  minds,  an  impression  of  a  much  more  decisive 
and  satisfactory  character,  methinks,  would  naturally  and  gen- 
erally follow ;  for,  on  occasions  when  we  refrained  from 
fishing  on  the  Sunday,  while  others  were  successfully  en- 
gaged in  that  object,  our  subsequent  labors,  as  has  been  seen, 
often  succeeded  under  circumstances  so  peculiarly  striking, 
that  there  was  scarcely  a  man  in  the  amount  of  our  crew 
who  did  not  seem  to  consider  it  as  the  effect  of  the  Divine 
blessing ! 

Independently,  indeed,  of  the  positive  duty  of  sanctifying 
the  Sabbath,  and  of  the  blessing  of  Providence  connected 
therewith,  we  ofttimes  realize  the  wisdom  of  the  institution, 
in  the  mere  physical  benefits  resulting  from  its  observance ; 
for  when  the  preceding  week  happened  to  have  been  labo- 
riously employed,  the  day  of  rest  became  sweetly  welcome, 
obviously  beneficial,  in  its  restoring  influence  upon  the  ener- 
gies of  the  people,  fitting  them  for  a  renewal  of  their  arduous 
duties,  while  the  temporaiy  restraint  thus  put  upon  the  ardor 
of  the  seamen,  operated,  no  doubt,  with  no  small  measure  of 
advantage,  by  stimulating  to  additional  energy  in  their  sub- 
sequent labors ;  so  that,  in  every  point  of  view,  and  in  every 
relation  to  the  well-being  of  man,  spiritual  and  temporal,  this 
sacred  appointment  stands  commended  both  for  wisdom  and 
goodness. 


F,  p.  2G9. 

THE  writer  has  had  many  thoughts  and  conversations  with 
others  on  the  question  whether  the  captain  of  a  whale  ship 
ought  himself  to  go  in  the  boats  or  always  keep  by  the  ship, 
and  the  opinion  I  have  formed  is  (let  it  pass  for  what  it  is 
worth),  that  the  commander,  on  whom  so  much  depends,  and 
whose  safety  should  ever,  therefore,  be  a  prime  consideration, 
not  for  his  own  sake  merely,  but  for  that  of  the  ship  and  crew 
under  him,  should  never  leave  the  ship  himself  to  engage  in 
whalinsr. 


NOTES.  311 

This  opinion  is  confirmed  by  the  reflections  had  on  one  oc- 
casion, when  our  captain  of  the  Commodore  Preble  was 
dragged  out  of  our  sight  by  an  enormous  sperm  whale,  to 
which  he  was  fast,  and  had  at  last  to  cut  loose  from,  lest  he 
should  be  lost.  Numerous  melancholy  facts  in  the  annals  of 
whaling  confirm  our  estimate,  then  formed,  of  the  danger  and 
inexpediency  of  the  captain's  going  in  the  boats,  and  natu- 
rally suggest  to  owners  the  propriety  of  instructing  their  cap- 
tains to  stay  by  the  ship.  Witness  the  recent  narrative,  from 
the  New  Bedford  Mercury,  of  the  sufferings  of  Captain  Hos- 
mer  and  a  boat's  crew,  of  the  whaling  bark  Janet,  who  were 
separated  from  their  vessel  while  on  the  coast  of  Peru.  The 
account,  furnished  by  the  captain,  is  substantially  as  follows: 

On  the  coast  of  Peru,  23d  June,  1849,  in  latitude  30°  N., 
longitude  104°  W.,  while  cruising  for  whales,  a  shoal  of  sperm 
whales  appeared  in  sight  from  the  Janet,  and  three  boats  low- 
ered in  pursuit.  Captain  Hosmer's  boat's  crew  consisted  of 
himself,  Francis  Hawkins,  third  mate,  Edward  H.  Charles, 
Joseph  Cortez,  Daniel  Thompson,  and  James  F  airman,  sea- 
men. It  blowing  fresh  at  the  time,  the  boats  soon  separated, 
each  having  made  fast  to  a  whale.  After  Captain  Hosmer 
had  succeeded  in  lt  turning  up"  his  whale,  and  was  towing 
him  to  the  ship,  from  some  inadvertence  on  the  part  of  the 
third  mate  in  putting  about,  the  boat  capsized,  with  loss 
of  boat-keg,  lantern-keg,  boat-bucket,  compass,  paddles,  &c. 
The  crew  succeeded  in  righting  the  boat,  and  lashed  the  oars 
to  the  thwarts  across  the  boat,  to  prevent  her  from  overturn- 
ing, she  being  filled  with  water,  and  the  sea  continually 
breaking  over  her. 

Two  waifs,  or  flags,  were  immediately  set  as  a  signal  of 
distress,  the  other  two  boats  being  in  sight,  at  a  distance  of 
about  one  and  a  half  miles.  Captain  Hosmer  saw  the  other 
two  boats  take  their  whales  alongside  of  the  bark,  which  was 
then  kept  off  in  the  direction  for  his  boat ;  but,  to  his  surprise 
and  horror,  when  within  about  one  mile  of  him,  they  kept  off 
on  another  course  until  sundown.  The  crew  of  the  captain's 


312  NOTES. 

boat  then  got  upon  the  whale  alongside,  and  tried  to  bail  the 
boat,  but  could  not  succeed.  They  then  cut  the  line  attached 
to  the  whale,  and  succeeded  in  setting  some  pieces  of  the 
boat-sail,  and  steered  toward  the  bark,  then  about  three 
miles  distant. 

During  the  night  they  saw  a  light  at  intervals,  but  in  the 
morning  the  bark  was  at  about  the  same  distance  off.  Every 
expedient  was  resorted  to,  by  making  signals,  to  attract  the 
attention  of  those  on  board  the  bark,  but  in  vain.  They  saw 
them  cutting  in  the  whales,  and  apparently  indifferent  to  the 
fate  of  their  comrades.  In  this  perilous  condition,  the  unfor- 
tunate boat's  crew  made  another  attempt  to  bail  the  water 
from  the  boat,  but,  owing  to  their  consternation,  they  did  not 
succeed.  They  then  continued  on  their  course  as  above, 
hoping  to  regain  the  bark,  but  soon  found  that  she  receded 
from  them,  and  it  was  then  determined  to  put  about  to  the 
wind  and  remain,  whatever  the  consequence  might  be. 

On  the  second  morning,  the  weather  being  more  favora- 
ble, all  the  whale  craft  was  thrown  overboard,  and  another 
attempt  was  made  to  bail  the  boat,  which  resulted  in  the  loss 
of  one  man,  without  accomplishing  the  purpose.  The  effort 
was  again  renewed  in  the  afternoon,  the  weather  being  yet 
more  favorable,  and  they  finally  succeeded  in  freeing  the  boat 
from  water,  but  with  the  loss  of  another  of  her  crew,  all  on 
board  having  been  up  to  their  arms  in  the  water  during  the 
last  forty-eight  hours.  Two  of  the  survivors  were  seized  with 
delirium,  all  of  them  having  been  without  a  morsel  of  food  or 
drink,  and  suffering  painfully  from  thirst. 

Thus  disabled,  no  one  on  board  being  able  to  ply  at  the 
oars,  and  with  only  a  small  fragment  of  the  boat's  sail  remain- 
ing, it  was  determined  to  make  for  Cocus  Island,  on  the  Pe- 
ruvian coast,  a  distance  of  about  one  thousand  miles,  as  the 
nearest  land.  Accordingly,  the  piece  of  the  sail  was  used  to 
the  best  advantage,  and  the  ceiling  of  the  boat  was  torn  up, 
aud  also  employed  as  a  wind-propeller,  and  steering  in  a 
northeasterly  direction. 


NOTES. 

Captain  Hosmer  says  nothing  occurred  worthy  of  remark 
until  the  seventh  day,  the  crew  having,  in  the  mean  time, 
been  without  a  particle  of  food  or  drink,  and  not  a  drop  of 
rain  having  fallen.  In  this  dreadful  state  of  suffering,  it  was 
mutually  agreed  to  cast  lots  as  to  which  of  the  number  should 
be  sacrificed  to  prolong  the  lives  of  his  companions ;  and  the 
unfortunate  victim  upon  whom  the  lot  fell  met  his  fate  with 
perfect  resignation  and  willingness.  At  the  close  of  the  day, 
a  shower  of  rain  proved  a  very  grateful  additional  relief. 

Being  without  compass  or  instruments  of  any  kind,  Captain 
Hosmer  was  compelled  to  rely  entirely  upon  his  judgment  re- 
specting the  course,  aided  only  by  an  occasional  glimpse  of 
the  north  star  and  the  rolling  swell  of  the  sea  from  the  south. 
On  the  eighth  day  another  of  the  number  died  from  exhaust- 
ion. It  was  found  necessary  to  pursue  a  more  northerly 
course  in  hope  of  raiu,  none  having  fallen  during  the  last 
four  days. 

On  the  next  day  they  were  favored  with  another  shower, 
and  this  benefaction  was  followed  up  by  the  remarkable  cir- 
cumstance of  a  dolphin  leaping  from  among  its  finny  compan- 
ions directly  into  the  boat.  Several  birds,  also,  approached 
so  near  to  the  boat  as  to  fall  a  prey  to  the  necessities  of  the 
crew,  administering  greatly  to  their  relief.  On  the  13th  of 
July  land  was  discovered  in  an  easterly  direction,  which 
proved  to  be  Cocus  Island  (uninhabited),  lying  in  latitude  5° 
27'  N.  longitude  87°  15'. 

Captain  Hosmer  and  the  other  survivors  succeeded  in  reach- 
ing it,  but  in  an  almost  helpless  condition.  They,  however, 
secured  a  pig,  and  drank  its  blood,  which  revived  their  ex- 
hausted strength,  and  also  obtained  a  plentiful  supply  of 
birds  and  fresh  water.  After  remaining  two  days  upon  the 
island,  they  were  overjoyed  by  seeing  the  approach  of  a  boat, 
which  proved  to  belong  to  the  ship  Leonidas  (whaler),  Cap- 
tain Swift,  of  this  port,  then  lying  in  Chatham  Bay,  for  the 
purpose  of  procuring  wood  and  water,  and  were  relieved 
from  their  dreadful  BuffVrim 


314  NOTES. 

ship  and  treated  with  every  possible  attention  and  kind- 
ness. 

The  names  of  those  who  perished  on  board  the  boat  are, 
Francis  Hawkins,  third  mate,  of  Augusta,  Maine ;  James 
Fairman,  seaman,  of  Ohio ;  Henry  Thompson,  seaman,  of 
Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania ;  Edward  Henry  Charles,  place 
of  residence  unknown. 

The  mate  of  the  Janet  explained  his  apparent  neglect  of 
the  captain,  in  a  letter  to  his  owners,  as  follows.  After  men- 
tioning the  fact  of  three  boats  putting  off  for  whales,  as  stated 
above,  he  adds: 

At  three  P.M.  I  had  my  whale  alongside,  and  soon  the 
ship  came  to  me ;  and  when  I  got  on  board  there  was  but 
one  boat  in  sight,  and  that  was  five  miles  to  the  leeward  of 
the  ship.  I  went  down  to  it  with  the  ship,  and  found  that  it 
was  the  second  mate's  boat.  He  had  seen  Captain  Hosmer 
two  hours  previously,  fast  to  a  whale,  and  went  to  the  lee- 
ward of  him  when  last  seen  from  the  boat. 

We  proceeded  in  the  direction  in  which  the  captain's  boat 
had  been  last  seen,  and  lay  to  all  night,  with  all  sails  set,  and 
with  all  our  lights  fixed.  In  the  morning  saw  nothing  of  the 
boat.  We  cruised  three  days,  but,  unfortunately,  without 
meeting  any  trace  of  her.  In  the  mean  time,  four  of  our 
hands  were  sick  from  fatigue,  and  we  were  under  the  neces- 
sity of  making  the  best  of  our  way  to  this  port  (Payta). 

We  had  taken  100  barrels  of  oil  for  the  last  ten  days  pre- 
viously, and  lost  200  barrels  during  the  same  time  by  losing 
lines.  I  expect  the  captain's  boat  was  taken  down  by  a  foul 
line,  as  he  had  a  new  line  in  his  boat,  coiled  two  days  previ- 
ous to  the  accident ;  we  saved  one  whale  the  day  the  acci- 
dent happened,  and  lost  another  that  night. 

3) 

THE  END. 


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